Panthera pardus burgtonnae, a newly discovered leopard subspecies, once inhabited Europe during the Eemian interglacial period. This ancient leopard had a much more robust structure compared to the modern leopard.

The species Panthera pardus burgtonnae thrived in what is now Germany during the Eemian Interglacial, a warm period lasting from approximately 130,000 to 115,000 years ago that preceded the last ice age.

The description of this subspecies is derived from fossil fragments, including parts of the lower jaw, upper cartilage teeth, and limb bones.

The original specimen was unearthed in 1993 by a private collector from the Burgtonna travertine deposits, a historically rich fossil site.

“The discovery of large mammal fossils from the Burgtonna Travertine in Thuringia, Germany, initiates our Quaternary paleontological research in Europe,” stated German paleontologists Helmut Hemmer of Mainz and Ralph Dietrich Kaalke of the Senckenberg Institute for Quaternary Paleontology.

“In 1696, Wilhelm Ernst Tenzel published one of the earliest scientific interpretations of Pleistocene elephant remains, establishing Pleistocene research as a key scientific focus.”

“Numerous fossils have been recovered from the Burgtonna limestone, with significant studies and comprehensive presentations devoted to these findings until felid species such as Panthera leo subspecies (see Spelea) and Felis sylvestris came into focus.”

“The explosion in travertine quarrying in Burgtonna during the early 1990s led to the discovery of new large fossil outcrops, allowing private collector Andreas Lindner to recover approximately 2,500 vertebrate fossils over the years.”

In 1993, Lindner discovered fossils of the new leopard subspecies in the southernmost area of the Bergtonna South Pits.

Paleontologists identified the Bergtonna specimen as a slender-jawed, well-built female leopard with minimal tooth wear, indicating it was relatively young.

This leopard weighed approximately 35-40 kg, with a head height around 107-112 cm.

The authors propose that this leopard is part of a fossil group previously identified in Mosbach and Taubach, Germany, showcasing unique dental features that differentiate it from the more widely recognized leopards of the Last Ice Age in Europe.

The research team has reclassified these later leopards under the name Panthera pardus antiqua.

The findings reveal that Panthera pardus burgtonnae was first documented in central Europe during the late Middle Pleistocene cooling period, becoming widespread from central Europe to the Apennine Peninsula during the early Late Pleistocene, prior to the last Ice Age (MIS 2).

“The Weichselian glaciers, particularly in central and southern Europe, resulted in a landscape dominated by ice, marking the era of Panthera pardus antiqua,” researchers elaborated.

European leopards from both the Late Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene were considerably large, boasting a high body mass index and robust physiques akin to jaguars, contrasting sharply with today’s representatives from Africa and Asia.

The comprehensive research findings have been published in the journal Paleobiodiversity and Paleoenvironment.

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H. Hemmer & R.-D. Kaalke. Panthera pardus burgtonnae Subspecies November (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae) From Eemian of Burgtonna (Thuringia, Germany) – A new perspective on the late Pleistocene European leopard. Paleobio Paleoembu, published online June 13, 2026. doi: 10.1007/s12549-026-00702-8