Million-Year-Old Snow Leopard Bones Help Explain Their Rule During the Ice Age

Rare fossils challenge assumptions about how the big cats thrived in a challenging environment.

By Paul Smaglik
Jan 15, 2025 7:15 PMJan 15, 2025 7:08 PM
Conquest of Asia and Europe by Snow Leopards during the last Ice Ages Uncovered
Life reconstruction of the Portuguese snow leopard hunting an Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica). © Artwork by Jianhao Ye. (Credit: © Jianhao Ye)

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Contemporary snow leopards are rare — and fossils of their ancient ancestors are even more scarce. Researchers have now identified and examined million-year-old bones of the big cat and have come to some surprising conclusions about how it adapted to the Ice Age and survived as a species since then. Their analysis has been published in the journal Science Advances.

Learning About Snow Leopard Survival

The skull of the leopard of Algar da Manga Larga, deposited at the Geological Museum of Lisbon. © (Credit: Darío Estraviz-López©, 2019)
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