The extinct species Acinonyx pleistocaenicus was the largest cheetah discovered through fossils in China.
Scientists have revealed the largest cheetah in the world after analyzing the fossilized skull of this giant creature. This massive carnivore weighed as much as the largest living cat today and was more than three times heavier than the modern cheetah, Live Science reported on June 4th. The cheetah Acinonyx pleistocaenicus roamed the Eurasian continent between 500,000 and 1.3 million years ago. It was first described in 1925 based on a lower jawbone found in Shanxi Province in northern China.
Reconstructed image of the giant cheetah Acinonyx pleistocaenicus. (Photo: Qigao Jiangzuo/Jiangzuo et al/Quaternary Science Reviews).
In a new study, experts analyzed more recently discovered fossils from China and estimated the weight of A. pleistocaenicus based on the length of the skull, the height of the molars, and the width of the bone structure connecting the skull to the spine. This method provides an accurate prediction of body mass in mammals.
The research team found that A. pleistocaenicus likely weighed over 130 kg and could reach weights of 190 kg, comparable to the size and weight of modern tigers (Panthera tigris) or lions (Panthera leo). A. pleistocaenicus was significantly heavier than the African cheetah (A. jubatus), which weighs about 34 to 64 kg.
The fossils analyzed by scientists included two upper jaw bones collected in 2021 from the Jinyuan Cave in northeastern Liaoning Province and a portion of a skull discovered in the 1930s from the Zhoukoudian Cave system in Beijing, which had previously been misidentified as a hyena skull. All three specimens are dated to approximately 780,000 years ago, during the Late Pleistocene (11,700 – 2.6 million years ago).
The research team identified these fossils as belonging to A. pleistocaenicus due to the species’ distinctive height, thick skull, and unusually wide snout, among many other characteristics. Scientists also discovered that the extinct giant cheetah shared several similarities with modern African cheetahs. For instance, the arrangement of teeth in the giant cheetah and the bony structure behind its nose align with those of modern cheetahs.
A. pleistocaenicus went extinct approximately 500,000 years ago. The extinction of this cheetah species was likely influenced by climate change during the Late Pleistocene, according to Qigao Jiangzuo, a paleobiologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, in a paper published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews. During that period, Earth transitioned from a glacial cycle of 41,000 years to a stronger and prolonged glacial period occurring every 100,000 years, leading to harsher cold periods interspersed with longer warm intervals.
At one site, researchers also identified another extinct cheetah species, A. intermedius. They believe it to be a distinct species, not a smaller descendant of A. pleistocaenicus. This suggests that A. pleistocaenicus might have been replaced by smaller cheetah species.
