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A new large pantherine and a sabre-toothed cat (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae) from the late Miocene hominoid-bearing Khorat sand pits, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern Thailand

DOI:10.1007/s00114-023-01867-4
Authors:
Louis de Bonis at Université de Poitiers
Louis de Bonis
Yaowalak Chaimanee at French National Centre for Scientific Research
Yaowalak Chaimanee
Camille Grohé at Université de Poitiers
Camille Grohé
Olivier Chavasseau at Université de Poitiers
Olivier Chavasseau
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Abstract and Figures

We describe two large predators from the hominoid-bearing Khorat sand pits, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern Thailand: a new genus of pantherine, Pachypanthera n. gen., represented by partial mandible and maxilla and an indeterminate sabre-toothed cat, represented by a fragment of upper canine. The morphological characters of Pachypanthera n. gen., notably the large and powerful canine, the great robustness of the mandibular body, the very deep fossa for the m. masseter, the zigzag HSB enamel pattern, indicate bone-cracking capacities. The genus is unique among Felidae as it has one of the most powerful and robust mandibles ever found. Moreover, it may be the oldest known pantherine, as other Asian pantherines are dated back to the early Pliocene. The taxa we report here are the only carnivorans known from the late Miocene of Thailand. Although the material is rather scarce, it brings new insights to the evolutionary history of Neogene mammals of Southeast Asia, in a geographic place which is partly “terra incognita.”
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The Science of Nature (2023) 110:42
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-023-01867-4
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
A new large pantherine andasabre‑toothed cat (Mammalia,
Carnivora, Felidae) fromthelate Miocene hominoid‑bearing Khorat
sand pits, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern Thailand
L.deBonis1 · Y.Chaimanee1 · C.Grohé1 · O.Chavasseau1 · A.Mazurier2 · K.Suraprasit3 · J.J.Jaeger1
Received: 22 May 2023 / Revised: 7 July 2023 / Accepted: 14 July 2023 / Published online: 16 August 2023
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023
Abstract
We describe two large predators from the hominoid-bearing Khorat sand pits, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern
Thailand: a new genus of pantherine, Pachypantheran. gen.,represented by partial mandible and maxilla and an indeter-
minate sabre-toothed cat, represented by a fragment of upper canine. The morphological characters of Pachypantheran.
gen.,notably the large and powerful canine, the great robustness of the mandibular body, the very deep fossa for the m.
masseter, the zigzag HSB enamel pattern, indicate bone-cracking capacities. The genus is unique among Felidae as it has
one of the most powerful and robust mandibles ever found. Moreover, it may be the oldest known pantherine, as other Asian
pantherines are dated back to the early Pliocene. The taxa we report here are the only carnivorans known from the late
Miocene of Thailand. Although the material is rather scarce, it brings new insights to the evolutionary history of Neogene
mammals of Southeast Asia, in a geographic place which is partly “terra incognita.”
Keywords Asia· Felidae· New taxon· Bone cracking· Late Miocene· Sabre-toothed cat· Pantherine
Introduction
The extant family Felidae comprises about 14 genera (Kitch-
ener etal. 2017) and numerous species adapted to hunting
and feeding mainly on the flesh of living animals although
they may sometimes crack the bones. Statistical analysis
(Werdelin 1983) separate the extant felids in two clusters:
large and small cats; the two groups being separated by size
but also by their different proportions. When considering the
fossil record, Felidae are divided into two groups: the fossil
Machairodontinae or sabre-toothed cats and fossil and extant
Felinae, most of them having conical upper canines (Werde-
lin etal. 2010). The fossil record of Felidae dates back to
the Oligocene with the small-sized European Proailurus
Filhol, 1879. During the Miocene, Felinae are represented
by small- and medium-sized species. The large-sized felines
Communicated by: Aurora Grandal d’Anglade
* L. de Bonis
louis.de.bonis@univ-poitiers.fr
Y. Chaimanee
yao.chaimanee@univ-poitiers.fr
C. Grohé
camille.grohe@univ-poitiers.fr
O. Chavasseau
olivier.chavasseau@univ-poitiers.fr
A. Mazurier
arnaud.mazurier@univ-poitiers.fr
K. Suraprasit
kantaponS@chula.ac.th
J.J. Jaeger
jean-jacques.jaeger@univ-poitiers.fr
1 Laboratoire Paléontologie Evolution Paléoécosystemes
Paléoprimatologie (PALEVOPRIM, UMR 7262 CNRS
INEE), Faculté Sciences Fondamentales et Appliquées,
Université de Poitiers, 6 rue Michel Brunet, 86073 Poitiers,
France
2 Institut de Chimie des Milieux et Matériaux de
Poitiers (IC2MP, UMR CNRS 7285), Faculté Sciences
Fondamentales et Appliquées, Université de Poitiers, 4 rue
Michel Brunet, 86073 Poitiers, France
3 Department ofGeology, Faculty ofScience, Chulalongkorn
University, Bangkok10330, Thailand
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