Skull of oldest tiger ever discovered in north-western China

Researchers have unearthed the skull of the oldest tiger ever, which is between 2.16 million years and 2.55 million years old, in Longdan in north-western China.

On comparing it with 207 other tiger skulls, 66 jaguar skulls, and 100 leopards, the researchers found that the beast's skull is a little smaller than the head of today’s tigers, which is about the size of a jaguar, but it's very recognisable as the same species we know today.

The recent discovery is the oldest complete skull ever discovered of a "pantherine" big cat, the big cats we know today, and is expected to help to understand how today's animals evolved.

The researchers compared the skull and found that it hinted that tigers may have originally evolved in China. The skull had well-developed upper fangs, and appears to be of a male.

"Expectedly, the Longdan tiger emerged as the most primitive tiger separated by a long distance from all other tiger subspecies. It is as an early branch of the tiger lineage," the Daily Mail quoted the researchers as saying.

According to Livescience, the slightly smaller size of the "Longdan" tiger hints that the creatures may have evolved to become bigger as they pursued bigger prey, and would have eaten deer and cow-like creatures.

"The discovery of the identity of this fossil is vitally important for understanding the fossil history of big cats and the relationship between them," Andrew Kitchener, curator of vertebrate biology at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, said.