In a new study, researchers have analyzed fossil discoveries from China to estimate the weight of Acinonyx pleistocaenicus, the largest cheetah that ever roamed the Eurasian continent. This extinct giant carnivore, weighing as much as the largest cat alive today and three times that of a modern cheetah, lived between 500,000 and 1.3 million years ago.
Scientists identified A. pleistocaenicus by analyzing the fossil skull of this giant creature, which was found in Beijing in the 1930s. The research team discovered that A. pleistocaenicus likely weighed over 130 kg and could reach up to 190 kg, equivalent to the size and weight of modern tigers or lions. This extinct cheetah was much heavier than its modern African counterpart, which weighs about 34-64 kg.
Fossils analyzed by scientists include upper jaw bones collected in 2021 from Jinyuan cave in Liaoning province and a partial skull discovered in Beijing in the 1930s. These specimens from about 780,000 years ago helped researchers identify A. pleistocaenicus by its characteristic height, thick skull, and wide snout. Similarities between the extinct giant cheetah and modern African cheetahs were also discovered, such as tooth arrangement and bony structures.
A. pleistocaenicus became extinct around 500,000 years ago due to mid-Pleistocene climate change caused by shifts in ice age cycles from every 41,
