Panthera pardus burgtonnae ssp. nov. (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae) from the Eemian of Burgtonna (Thuringia, Germany) – Late Pleistocene European leopards in a new perspective

A hemimandible, an upper carnassial and some postcranial finds of leopard (Panthera pardus) from the Late Pleistocene (Eemian, MIS 5e) site of Burgtonna (Thuringia, Germany) are presented. They prove to belong to the morphotype previously known as the Mosbach/Taubach group and considerably extend the knowledge and the dentitional discrimination of corresponding forms. The new Burgtonna finds are described as the subspecies Panthera pardus burgtonnae ssp. nov. and are distinguished from the more common last glacial (Weichselian) leopard, widespread in Europe and taxonomically revised here as Panthera pardus antiqua (Cuvier, 1825). Both leopard forms of the European Late Pleistocene were not just very large sized compared to extant leopards, but were also particularly heavily built, exceeding the scale of modern forms and coming close to jaguars. This is demonstrated by a newly introduced body mass index. An introgressive influence of the last late Middle Pleistocene jaguars (Panthera onca gombaszoegensis) cannot be excluded without molecular genetic studies based on sequencing of whole genomes. Such DNA studies may also provide insight into possible Pleistocene hybridisation events especially with European snow leopards.