Panthera principialis

Panthera principialis is an extinct species in big cat genus Panthera described in 2023 based on fragmentary Pliocene-aged fossils from Laetoli, Tanzania. As the species was the oldest known Panthera species at the time, it was given the specific epithet "principialis", from the Latin word meaning "initial, original, in the beginning".

Taxonomy & evolution
The fossils on which P. principialis was based had previously been assigned to the species Panthera leo, Panthera gombaszoegensis, and Panthera palaeosinensis.

Description
Panthera principialis was a lion-sized cat.