Evolution

Taxonomy

Evolution

Paleontologist records provide little evidence regarding snow leopard evolution or historic range. A reasonably accurate range map was published in 1972, and maps using GIS modeling to predict potential snow leopard habitat followed in 1997. Today we know snow leopards live in 12 countries, prodominantly the mountain ranges of central Asia. Cats are able to vary greatly, but only within the cat kind. Today’s big cats, except for snow leopards, can all hybridize with one another (lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars). If the jaguar is male, the hybrid is called a jagulep. If the leopard is male, the hybrid is a lepjag. Female hybrids tend to be fertile, while males are not.

References

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128022139000031

https://bigcatswildcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/big-cats-bio-classifcation-chart-1024x724.png

https://answersingenesis.org/mammals/kitty-kinds/

https://answersingenesis.org/hybrid-animals/great-species-mixup/