Panthera blytheae: the new "cat on the roof"

13 November 2013

American Museum of Natural History
New York City

University of Southern California
Los Angeles

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Los Angeles

Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Beijing

It is here!

A new paper by members of the Tibetan Plateau Expedition published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences presents the newest carnivore described from the Zanda Basin in western Tibet: the oldest known pantherine felid fossils.

[Front seat view of the Himalayas from the Zanda Basin in Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Photo by Jack]

The 7 fossil specimens that make up the known material for this new species, Panthera blytheae, were collected over two field seasons (2010 and 2012) in Tibet. This new species, correlated to rocks that are 5.95 to 4.10 million years in age, is the currently the oldest known carnivoran fossil in the Zanda Basin, and in addition represents the new first appearance datum (FAD) of pantherine felids. The Tibetan fossils replace the previous FAD for pantherines known from Laetoli in Africa (those specimens date to around 3.8 million years ago).

[Excavation at ZD1001, type locality of the new fossil cat, in progress, August 2010. Qiang (in blue) brushes away the emerging skull of Panthera blytheae as Jack (in white) looks on in anticipation. Photo by Gary Takeuchi]

The Tibetan fossils were first discovered at locality ZD1001, a highly fossiliferous bonebed discovered by Juan Liu, doctoral student at the University of Alberta, Canada, and a former student at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing. The excavation was supervised by experienced Tar Pits excavator Gary Takeuchi, and the holotype specimen for P. blytheae was prepared by Howell Thomas of the LACM.

 [The holotype skull of Panthera blytheae, IVPP V18788.1. Photo by Jack]

Over the past two and a half years, the research team made detailed comparisons of all living pantherine species and a handful of fossil big cats, and conducted a combined analysis of DNA and anatomical data to estimate the inter-relationships among the fossil and living big cats. The new big cat species is a sister species of the living snow leopard, indicating an ancient lineage of high plateau pantherine predators persisted for millions of years on the "Roof of the World".

[Artist's depiction of Panthera blytheae, based on the living snow leopard. By Julie Selan]

Furthermore, the new research indicates that the old geologic age of the new fossils pushes divergence time estimates for the living big cat species backward, some to the late Miocene. This finding shortens the previously perceived long ghost lineage between the divergence of big cats from other members of living cats and the diversification among the first big cats. Lastly, an analysis of the geographic distribution of living big cats and likely origins of fossil big cats indicates that central Asia, and by extension the Tibetan Plateau, was a critical region for early evolution of the living cats, of which the big cats are the earliest branching lineage.

[Life reconstruction of Panthera blytheae by Mauricio Antón]

The abstract of the article can be accessed here: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1774/20132686.short?rss=1

A copy of the paper is available upon request, from the first two authors, Xiaoming (xwang [at] nhm.org) and Jack (jtseng [at] amnh.org). In addition, according to the journal's web page, "All Proceedings B content is FREE to access until the 30th November".

Links to media coverage of the new findings will be added here as the stories are published!

Fossil Find Clears Up Big Cat Origins

The Oldest Big Cat, From the Roof of the World – Phenomena: Not Exactly Rocket Science

Himalayan fossils point to Asian origin of big cats - life - 13 November 2013 - New Scientist

Ancient Roar from Tibet: Panthera blytheae | chasing sabretooths

▶ Reconstruction of fossil pantherine cat - YouTube

Oldest big cat fossils suggest species first roared in Asia - latimes.com

BBC News - Oldest big cat fossil found in Tibet

Ancient Cat May Reshape Feline Family Tree | Science/AAAS | News

Blythe’s panther discovery: Tibet expedition to find oldest big cat.

Researchers discover new big cat fossil in Himalayas | Take Two | 89.3 KPCC

Oldest Big Cat: Fossil of Four-Plus Million-Year-Old Big Cat Species Discovered

Leopard-like creature is the oldest big cat yet found : Nature News & Comment

Oldest Known Species of Big Cat Pushes Origins Back Millions of Years - D-brief | DiscoverMagazine.com

Leopard-like Creature Is the Oldest Big Cat Yet Found: Scientific American

Fossil of New Big Cat Species Discovered; Oldest Ever Found | Press Room | USC

Fwd: Tibet field update 2

This is day 15 in Zhada Basin. The basin is scenic as usual (see
attached picture; background is one of the 6000-meter plus peaks of
the Himalayas), although it's quite dry this year -- good thing for
vert paleontologists but presumably bad for local economy.

The collecting has been good. In addition to the usual horses, rhinos,
and bovids, we got four taxa that are new records for the basin. Two
of them are giraffes: a perfect ossicone of Palaeotragus and a pair of
ossicones of rather modern-looking giraffid that we no idea what to
make of it. The other two new records are a dog (Xenocyon) and a cat
(Lynx?). Furthermore, we got some nice cranial and dental materials of
a raccoon dog (previously known by an edentulous jaw frag).

We will wrap up our Zhada works in a day or two, and, to expand our
horizons, plan to spend a few days in 2-3 small basins in nearby
areas.

Best from Tibet,

Xiaoming

Sent via BlackBerry

2012 Field update 1

Usually this the job of Jack's, but since he is not with us, my own
writings will have to do.

We have just finished a small campaign in a sub-basin of Qaidam called
Hongyazi in northern Tibetan Plateau, our usual practice of acclimating
ourselves in relative low elevation before heading up to high Tibet.
Hongyazi is kind of new to us (discovered only last year), but we
already managed to find faunas of early Miocene, middle Mioc, plus
Hipparion fauna previous known here. This the most beautiful site in
Qaidam -- towering snow peaks, melting snow water meandering through
lush grasses, wild geese and ducks. Although at a relatively low
elevation of 3700 m, it's cold enough to freeze at night, but it's been
fun in the last few days.

Our next goal is Zhada Basin. It will take us about a week to get there,
with a two-day lay over in Lhasa. Sitting in our car heading to Lhasa,
there are a lot of time in our hands...

Best from Tibet,

Xiaoming

2011 Inner Mongolia field season begins

3 August 2011. IVPP, Beijing, China.

With the arrival of team members Xiaoming and Mike, the 2011 field expedition to Inner Mongolia is in full swing.

The team this year comprises three of us from Los Angeles, and four from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. We will also have a few geolgists joining us from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Earth Sciences research division.

The tentative schedule is to depart for Xilinhot on Friday, August 5. Some of the sites we will visit include the earl-middle Miocene Aoerban area, the middle Miocene Tunggur Formation, and the late Miocene Baogeda Ula Formation.

The stuffy and warm air in Beijing urges us to again migrate northward onto the Mongolian Plateau where the skies are blue and the grasses are green.

~Jack

North Campus: L.A.'s Urban Nature: New Bird For North Campus List

North Campus: L.A.'s Urban Nature: New Bird For North Campus List: "165 and Counting... Earlier this week, Kimball Garrett, NHM Ornithology Collections Manager, spotted a not-so-common sight, a pai..."

A new blog was launched to keep the public informed about progress in the construction of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County's North Campus.

Stay tuned!

Royal Tyrrell Museum Speaker Series 2011

Friday, January 28, 2011
11:00 a.m.
Jack Tseng
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Tyrants of the Cenozoic: Evolution of Bone-Crushing Hyenas and Dogs

Location:
Royal Tyrrell Museum
1500 North Dinosaur Trail
Drumheller, Alberta
Canada

Link: http://www.tyrrellmuseum.com/speaker_series.htm

The discovery continues

7 October 2010. News relayed from IVPP, Beijing, China.

After the intense work schedule of the field season, the researchers and students have gone back to their posts and resumed the more sedentary lifestyle of indoor paleontology.

However, the process of discovery continues as preparators and technicians work hard in the laboratories to bring many of the most outstanding field specimens out of their plaster-encased coffins, into the light of research.

One of the new preparator/driver of the 2010 field season, Mr. Shengli Wu of the IVPP, has been preparing ZD1001 specimens with high efficiency. When he finished extracting two bovid dentaries from the field plaster jacket ZD1001.6~7, he continued to remove the rest of the matrix as instructed by the chief preparator.

[ZD1001.6~7 field jacket, shown with the two bovid dentaries which were the original targets of the plaster jacket]

Just a few days ago, an additional fossil specimen was uncovered from the remaining matrix in the jacket...

It is a partial left maxilla of a small felid, matching in size to two other individuals of the same type already discovered from the ZD1001 quarry.

[the unexpected felid maxilla uncovered in the IVPP laboratory]

Four teeth are preserved on this new specimen, and the complete canine will be informative in our identification of this carnivoran once all materials have been prepared.

Meanwhile, a partial skull of the same felid is being prepared in the laboratory of the LACM. More updates will be posted after the annual gathering of vertebrate paleontologists from around the world at the meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, happening this year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 9 to 13 October.

~Jack

[A disintegrated kiang Equus kiang carcass in the "Valley of the kiang" locality. Zhada Basin, Tibet. 19 August 2010]

[Expedition geologist Dr. Guangpu Xie takes notes at locality ZD1001, 300 feet above the field vehicles in Zhadagou. Zhada Basin, Tibet. 7 August 2010]

[Crew members prospect on a patch of highly fossiliferous outcrop (locality ZD1001) above the Zhadagou Trail. Zhada Basin, Tibet. 7 August 2010]

[Drs. Xiaoming Wang (left) and Qiang Li (right) plan for fieldwork in the Zhada Basin. Ngari District, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. 5 August 2010]

[Juan Liu of the University of Alberta carries a plaster jacket containing a rhino radius bone that she had just collected. West of Tuosu Lake, Qinghai Province, China. 28 July 2010]

[Gary Takeuchi of LACM takes notes on the morning's finds in the Quanshuiliang locality area. Qinghai Province, China. 28 July 2010]

Glimpses of the 2010 field season: Jack's photos

[an exposed partial dentary of a medium-sized bovid at the eastern edge of the Quanshuiliang area, Qinghai Province, China. July 2010]

Inner Mongolia project takes a hit, moves forward

9 September 2010. Xiaotangshan, rurtal Beijing, China

In early September a small team of technicians visited the Baogeda Ula quarry site that Jack and the crew worked on in 2009, to attempt to extract a large field jacket left there (dubbed "The Southern Block"). What the crew found was an empty hole with fragments of what's left over of the jacket.

After consultation with the local police, the Land Management office, and the local rancher, we concluded that the jacket was destroyed by tomb raiders in Abaga. Many small operations of illegal excavation plague the Inner Mongolian grasslands which boasts thousands of ancient Mongolian burial sites. The cultural bureau has no adequate resources to protect and manage all of them. Unfortunately, our site was targeted by locals who do not differentiate between burial sites and fossil sites.

With the largest chunk of bonebed from our 2009 excavation destroyed, we (those in Beijing) turned our attention to the smaller field jacket (dubbed "The Northern Block") which was transported to the rural field station of the IVPP in Xiaotangshan at the end of the field seasons last year.

[a cocoon hangs quietly outside the warehouse which houses field jackets made by IVPP field teams from all over China]

Dr. Qiang Li and Jack spent the day opening up the Northern Block with help from technicians at the field station, and then immediately began preparation on the jacket. So far, two scapulae and two radii have been uncovered, in addition to rib and vertebral fragments that were exposed during excavation.

[Xiaotangshan technician Ding saws open the top of IM0902 "The Northern Block"]

An in-house technician will be assigned to the preparation of the jacket with Li and Jack's supervision, to collect data on the arrangement and preservation of fossil bones while preparation proceeds for the next few months.

[the surface of the jacket after first day's preparation]

ZD1001 bonebed

8 September 2010. IVPP, Beijing, China

Fossil specimens from Tibet have all been unpacked and stored in specimen boxes. Now comes the more "scientific" part of curation: make sense out of the fossils.

We have extracted fossils from the ZD1001 bonebed with the purpose of studying its taphonomy (the study of the circumstances surrounding the preservation of different types of fossil deposits). One aspect of examining its preservation involved collecting all bone fragments and elements that were uncovered during the process of excavation, and the documentation of the orientation of the bones as they are found in the ground.

[a scan of Jack's field notes, showing a numbered list of specimens taken out of ZD1001 {left page} and their orientation and position in the ground {right page}]

Digitizing and building a quarry map showing the arrangement of bones from ZD1001 is one step towards understanding the environment in which the fossil vertebrates died and became preserved.

To many Angelinos this is all too familiar; the Rancho la Brea deposits of Hancock Park are full of concentrated pockets of fossils (although la Brea fossils are younger in geologic age than those from ZD1001 by a few million years).

Unwrapping Tibet

7 September 2010. IVPP, Beijing, China.

The field vehicles arrived in Beijing on Sunday evening, after a ten-day trek from the western border of Tibet across the Tibetan Plateau and down to coastal China. We welcomed the drivers back with an early dinner, and sent them home for some rest.

Monday morning was the usual off-loading of the vehicles which made our fossil finds visible for all in the institute to see. Many passers-by asked about our trip and the nature of our new discoveries. The real work begins, however, with the unpacking and curating of the specimens.

[boxes of mammal fossils as they were in our Zhada Basin headquarter]

Even though the title "curator" may invoke many glorious (sometimes not so glorious) and adventurous associations in the common enthusiast, its core responsibility is far from those perceptions. Work does not end with the discovery of a new fossil specimen (in fact, that is the simplest and easiest step, in my opinion). The cleaning, labeling, identification, and proper documentation and storage of each and every single specimen that comes into one's attention is the bridge that allows a specimen to be scientifically studied and made known to the world.

I gained a full appreciation of the "background work" of curation and collection through working with Curatoral Assistant Gary Takeuchi, who upheld a high standard of specimen curation even under the more adverse field conditions. This year I am left to curate the specimens on my own terms as both Xiaoming and Gary have returned to Los Angeles.

It is no easy task, and specimens are still being unpacked at this point. Measurements will commence on the in situ specimens from the ZD1001 quarry as soon as everything from this season has been boxed and labeled.

~Jack

Back in Beijing

31 August 2010. IVPP, Beijing.

The majority of the team has returned to Beijing from Lhasa. Our field vehicles are still on the road back home (they have reached Geermu, Qinghai Province as of last night, and should arrive in Lanzhou today).

We are organizing the few specimens that we brought back from Tibet, and waiting for the rest of the specimens to come back to the institute. It is warm and smoggy in Beijing, with plenty of oxygen in the air (compared to Zhada!)

Last day enroute to Lhasa

Last night, we stayed in the tourist town of Shigaze to give some members of our team the opportunity of visiting its big temple. This morning, a few miles out of town, the main highway to Lhasa was closed for repair works. We were forced to take the old southern rout to Lhasa, about 100 km of detour but a scenic road taken by most tourists. Since we are in no particular hurry (we'll have three days to cool our heels in Lhasa because of difficulty in obtaining plane tickets), it is worth the extra time to see the scenery -- 6000 meter plus snow peak (Jiangsanglamu), pristine lake (Yangchuoyongcuo), and ancient Tibetan town that had resisted British invasions (Jiangze).
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Over the rainbow

23 August 2010. On the road

We left the Holy Mountain at 0600 this morning, rushing in the dark to get past the road block at Huoer Village which begins at 0700.

Thick clouds overhead dumped a coat of snow over the peaks as we navigated several rushing rivers.

The road home seems distinctly mellower than our entry into the wild.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T