# Panthera gombaszoegensis

Panthera gombaszoegensis, also known as the European jaguar, is a Panthera species that lived from about 2.0 to 0.35 million years ago in Europe, as well as likely elsewhere in Eurasia. The first fossils were excavated in 1938 in Gombasek Cave, Slovakia. P. gombaszoegensis was a medium-large sized species that formed an important part of the European carnivore guild for a period of over a million years. Many authors have posited that it is the ancestor of the American jaguar (Panthera onca), with some authors considering it the subspecies Panthera onca gombaszoegensis, though the close relationship between the two species has been questioned by some authors.

## Taxonomy

Leo gombaszoegensis was the scientific name proposed by Miklós Kretzoi in 1938 for teeth found in deposits in Gombasek Cave, Slovakia. The spelling of the species name is based on the Hungarian name of Gombasek, Gombaszög. It was reassessed and subordinated to the genus Panthera in 1971. The following are considered to belong to P. gombaszoegensis as well:
* Panthera toscana proposed in 1949 for carnassial teeth found in Villafranchian deposits in the Val d'Arno in Italy. These remains were originally described as a distinct species and later as the subspecies Panthera gombaszoegensis toscana.
* Felis (Panthera) schreuderi proposed in 1960 for cat fossils found in Tegelen, the Netherlands.
* Jansofelis vaufreyi proposed in 1971 for cat fossils found in southeastern France.
Some remains once attributed to P. gombaszoegensis have more recently been identified as Acinonyx pardinensis.
A 2022 study based on a relatively complete skull found in Belgium suggested that P. gombaszoegensis is more closely related to the tiger (Panthera tigris) than the jaguar.

## Evolution

The ancestors of P. gombaszoegensis are thought to have arisen in Africa; a related form of Panthera was present in South Africa 1.9 Ma ago. Another form similar to P. gombaszoegensis has been found dating from early Pleistocene East Africa and had both lion- and tiger-like characteristics. P. gombaszoegensis arrived in Europe around 1.9 million years ago.
P. gombaszoegensis was initially the only European Pantherinae species in the Early Pleistocene, being present alongside the felines Acinonyx pardinensis (sometimes referred to as the "giant cheetah") and Puma pardoides and the machairodontine sabertooth cats Homotherium latidens and Megantereon whitei. Leopards arrived later in the Early Pleistocene or the Middle Pleistocene, and the large lion Panthera fossilis in the Middle Pleistocene. The extinction of P. gombaszoegensis around 330–300,000 years ago has been suggested to have been as a result of competition with lions.

## Description

The European jaguar was larger than the modern-day jaguar, with the later subspecies Panthera gombaszoegensis gombaszoegensis estimated to weigh 90–120 kilograms (200–260 lb) in a 2001 study, with a large partial skeleton from the Middle Pleistocene Château Breccia in Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France estimated to weigh 130 kilograms (290 lb) in a later 2011 study. it was probably capable of bringing down larger prey than the living jaguar. It is thought to have been sexually dimorphic, with significantly larger males than females. While it was often asserted that its body size increased with time, this has been disputed, with other authors finding no evidence of a clear pattern of body size evolution through time. The morphology of the lower jaw in particular closely resembles that of the jaguar, though the morphology of the skull displays considerable differences. Panthera gombaszoegensis differs from the living jaguar in some dental characters, including having prominent vertical grooves on the upper canines (which are weak or absent in living jaguar) as well as differences in the robustness of the premolar teeth. The postcranial skeleton morphology has been described as leopard-like.

## Distribution and habitat

P. gombaszoegensis is primarily known from records in Europe, though rarer records have been reported from elsewhere, including the Caucasus (Georgia), Central Asia (Tajikistan)., the Levant (the Ubeidiya site in Israel) the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia), Southern Africa (the Kromdraai site in South Africa), South Asia (Pakistan), northeast China (Liaoning), and Southeast Asia (Java).
The European jaguar is thought to have lived foremost in forests, but recent work suggests that its association with forest was not as strong as has often been assumed.

## Ecology

Panthera gombaszoegensis is thought to have probably been a solitary hunter. A 2022 study suggested that based on its skull morphology, it was likely a generalist predator. Isotopic analysis of the ecosystem of Venta Micena in southern Spain, dating to the Early Pleistocene, suggests that at this locality the prey of P. gombaszoegensis predominantly included the giant deer Praemegaceros verticornis and the smaller deer Metacervocerus rhenanus. These prey are suggestive that P. gombaszoegensis inhabited forest at this locality. Analysis of specimens from Punta Lucero in northern Spain, dating to the early Middle Pleistocene, suggest at this locality at this locality Panthera gombaszoegensis was an apex predator that consumed large prey, with prey consumed likely including aurochs, bison, red deer, and/or the giant deer Praemegaceros.