Research overview: molecular divergence dating of the Panthera radiation

This overview examines how molecular clocks, calibrated with fossils, have been used to estimate when the living big cats diverged from one another. Genetic studies place the origin of the Panthera lineage and the successive splits leading to lions, leopards, jaguars, tigers, and snow leopards within the late Miocene and Pliocene, often somewhat younger than the oldest claimed pantherine fossils. The survey reviews how researchers reconcile genetic and palaeontological estimates, the role of key fossils like Panthera blytheae as calibration points, and the uncertainties introduced by incomplete lineage sorting and ancient hybridization. It discusses how integrating divergence dating with the fossil record produces a timeline for big-cat evolution, and why aligning molecular and morphological clocks remains an active and sometimes contentious area of felid research.