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Miopanthera
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Felidae
Genus:	†Miopanthera; Kretzoi, 1938
Type species
	†Pseudaelurus lorteti; Gaillard, 1899
Species
	†Miopanthera lorteti Gaillard, 1899; †M. pamiri Ozansoy, 1965;
Synonyms
	M. lorteti Pseudaelurus lorteti; Styriofelis lorteti; Schizailurus lorteti; M. pamiri Felis pamiri;

Miopanthera is an extinct genus of Pseudaelurus-grade felids.

Taxonomy

The genus Miopanthera was first proposed in 1938 by Kretzoi for the species Pseudaelurus lorteti.^[1] P. lorteti had previously been described as such in 1899, upon the discovery of fossils in Europe. However, Kretzoi's proposal was largely ignored by later authors. A 2010 review of the Felidae proposed splitting the genus Pseudaelurus in three, and suggested assigning P. lorteti to the genus Styriofelis alongside P. turnauensis.^[2]

Another species, Felis pamiri, was described in 1965 based on a snout fragment found in Turkey. The locality at which it was found was estimated to be from the late Miocene, about 9.9 Ma. After its original description, no further material was assigned to the species.^[3]^[4]

In 2017, a review of the species Felis pamiri concluded that it was likely closely related to S. lorteti, and reassigned both species to the genus Miopanthera. The paper also noted that the species Panthera blytheae, which had been described not long before, lacked features that assigned it specifically to the genus Panthera, but that further examination of the material had the potential to clarify Miopanthera's relation to the modern pantherine (Panthera and Neofelis) cats.^[4]

A 2020 study of newfound material from the Siwaliks region suggested that the species Miopanthera lorteti be reassigned to the genus Sivaelurus, and that M. pamiri be assigned to a new genus because it is younger, larger, and more derived.^[5] Another study done in 2023 proposed moving both M. pamiri and P. blytheae to a new genus, Palaeopanthera.^[6]

Description

Miopanthera lorteti ranged in size from that of a large caracal to a small leopard. Miopanthera pamiri, which is known only from fragmentary, though intact, material^{[clarification needed]} from a single individual, is theorized to have been similar in size to a large lynx or a small puma.^[4]

Evolution

M. pamiri is believed to have evolved from the earlier M. lorteti. Due to certain features, it is also considered likely that Miopanthera was in some way ancestral to the modern Panthera lineage.^[4]

References

^ Kretzoi, Miklós (1938). "Die Raubtiere von Gombaszög nebst einer Ubersicht der Gesamtfauna" [The predators of Gombaszög together with an overview of the overall fauna] (PDF). Annales historico-naturales Musei nationalis hungarici (in German). 31. Budapest: Hungarian Natural History Museum: 88–157. ISSN 0521-4726.
^ Werdelin, Lars; O'Brien, Stephen J.; Johnson, Warren E.; Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki (2010). "Phylogeny and evolution of cats (Felidae)". In Macdonald, D.W.; Loveridge, A.J. (eds.). Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
^ Ozansoy, F. (1965). "Etude des gisements continentaux et des Mammifères du Cénozoïque de 9 Turquie" [Study of the continental deposits and mammals of the Cenozoic of Turkey]. Mém Soc Géol Fr (in French). 44: 1–92.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Geraads, Denis; Peigné, Stéphane (2017). "Re-appraisal of 'Felis' pamiri Ozansoy 1959 (Carnivora, Felidae) from the upper Miocene of Turkey: the earliest pantherin cat?". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 24 (4): 415–425. doi:10.1007/s10914-016-9349-6.
^ Qigao Jiangzuo; Danhui Sun; John J. Flynn (2020). "Paleobiogeographic implications of additional Felidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) specimens from the Siwaliks". Historical Biology. doi:10.1080/08912963.2020.1737683.
^ Hemmer, H. (29 March 2023). "The evolution of the palaeopantherine cats, Palaeopanthera gen. nov. blytheae (Tseng et al., 2014) and Palaeopanthera pamiri (Ozansoy, 1959) comb. nov. (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae)". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. doi:10.1007/s12549-023-00571-5.