The “rust” cat (in the image) measures up to 52 centimeters. New species found in China is even smaller.
“Kitten” surprised researchers in an ancient Chinese cave, where he entered 300,000 years ago to hunt mice and rats there attracted by food left by ancient humans.
Wandered through China about 300 thousand yearsbut only now has it been recognized as belonging to the smallest feline species in the world.
baptized by Prionailurus curtainthe feline fits in the palm of the hand and was described by researchers in a study on November 19th in the journal Phoenician Zoological Annales. The discovery was based on a fossilized jaw with two teeth, found in Gruta de Hualongdongplace inhabited by the first humans.
Of the genre Prionailurusthe newly discovered species is much smaller than current domestic cats.
Current members of this genus, such as the “rust” cat (Prionailurus russetus) and the (Black cats), are among the smallest wild cats, measuring up to 52 cm in length. The extinct Prionailurus curtain was even smaller: researchers estimated its size between 35 and 50 centimeters and weight of approximately one kilo.
The cave’s unique environment preserved the little cat’s remains, a rarity since most of the leopard cat’s ancestors lived in forests where their bones degraded quickly. Researchers speculate that the prehistoric feline entered the cave to hunt mice and rats, which were likely attracted by food scraps left behind by early humans.
“Cats are common elements in Quaternary cave deposits [período geológico que vai de 2,58 milhões de anos atrás até hoje]. However, finding such a small cat is a surprise“, disse Jiangzuo.
The angle of a tooth associated the species with domestic cats and Pallas’s cats (Otocolobus manul). This discovery is the first fossil evidence of these links and sheds light on the evolutionary history of the genus Prionailurus, the researchers explain.
The leopard cat family, which includes five living species, is the most diverse feline genus in the forests of South and Southeast Asia. “The new species reveals, for the first time, the past diversity of this genus,” noted the study’s lead author. Qigao Jiangzuoresearcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at .
Researchers aim to expand their study of fossilized cats in China and beyond, discovering more about the origins and evolution of the cat family.
“The new species reveals, for the first time, the past diversity of this genus,” said Jiangzuo.
“We plan to systematically survey fossil cats in China and around the world, which have not been well studied in the past. We hope to trace the origins and past diversity of the cat family,” researchers told .
