Panthera is a genus within the family Felidae that was named and described by Lorenz Oken in 1816 who placed all the spotted cats in this group.[3][2] Reginald Innes Pocock revised the classification of this genus in 1916 as comprising the tiger (P. tigris), lion (P. leo), jaguar (P. onca), and leopard (P. pardus) on the basis of common cranial features.[4] Results of genetic analysis indicate that the snow leopard (formerly Uncia uncia) also belongs to the genus Panthera (P. uncia), a classification that was accepted by IUCN Red List assessors in 2008.[5][6]
The tiger, lion, leopard, and jaguar are the only cat species with anatomical structures that enable them to roar. The snow leopard is the only one in this genus that cannot roar. The primary reason for this was formerly assumed to be the incomplete ossification of the hyoid bone. However, new studies show the ability to roar is due to other morphological features, especially of the larynx.[7]
The word panther derives from classical Latin panthēra, itself from the ancient Greek pánthēr (πάνθηρ).[8] The phonetically similar Sanskrit word पाण्डर pând-ara means 'pale yellow, whitish, white'.[9]
In Panthera species, the dorsal profile of the skull is flattish or evenly convex. The frontal interorbital area is not noticeably elevated, and the area behind the elevation is less steeply sloped. The basicranial axis is nearly horizontal. The inner chamber of the bullae is large, the outer small. The partition between them is close to the external auditory meatus. The convexly rounded chin is sloping.[10]All Panthera species have an incompletely ossified hyoid bone. A specially adapted larynx with proportionally larger vocal folds is covered in a large fibro-elastic pad. These characteristics enable them to roar. Only the snow leopard cannot roar, as it has shorter vocal folds of 9 mm (0.35 in) that provide a lower resistance to airflow; it was therefore proposed to be retained in the genus Uncia.[11]Panthera species can prusten, which is a short, soft, snorting sound; it is used during contact between friendly individuals. The roar is an especially loud call with a distinctive pattern that depends on the species.[12]
The geographic origin of the Panthera is most likely northern Central Asia. Panthera blytheae, the oldest known Panthera species, is similar in skull features to the snow leopard. The tiger, snow leopard, and clouded leopard genetic lineages dispersed in Southeast Asia during the Miocene.[13]Genetic studies indicate that the pantherine cats diverged from the subfamily Felinae between six and ten million years ago.[5]The genus Neofelis is sister to Panthera.[5][14][15][16]The clouded leopard appears to have diverged about 8.66 million years ago. Panthera diverged from other cat species about 11.3 million years ago and then evolved into the species tiger about 6.55 million years ago, snow leopard about 4.63 million years ago and leopard about 4.35 million years ago. Mitochondrial sequence data from fossils suggest that the American lion (P. atrox) is a sister lineage to P. spelaea that diverged about 0.34 million years ago.[17]The snow leopard is nested within Panthera and is the sister species of the tiger.[18]
Results of a 2016 study based on analysis of biparental nuclear genomes suggest the following relationships of living Panthera species:[19]