Named By: | Miklos Kretzoi in 1938 |
Time Period: | Early to Middle Pleistocene |
Location: | Belgium. Bulgaria. Croatia. Czech Republic. England - Cromer Forest Bed Formation. France. Georgia. Germany. Greece. Hungary. Israel - Ubeidiya Formation. Italy. Saudi Arabia. Spain. Tajikistan. Tanzania - Vogel River Series Formation |
Size: | Up to about 90 centimetres high at the shoulder |
Diet: | Carnivore |
Fossil(s): | Multiple individuals |
Classification: | | Chordata | Mammalia | Carnivora | Felidae | |
Also known as: | | Leo gombaszoegensis | |
The European jaguar (Panthera (onca) gombaszoegensis) lived about 1.5 million years ago, and is the earliest known Panthera species from Europe. Fossil remains were first known from the Olivola site in Italy and under the synonym Panthera toscana from other Italian localities. Later specimens have been found in England, Germany, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. Sometimes it is recognized as a subspecies of Panthera onca, the jaguar.