snow leopard
Sign in to savelarge felid native to the mountains of Central and South Asia
AI overview
The snow leopard is a large wild cat that lives in the mountains of Central and South Asia, where it has adapted to survive in harsh, high-altitude environments. It matters because as a top predator in these remote mountain ecosystems, it plays an important role in maintaining the balance of nature in one of the world's most extreme habitats.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- flagship species
- Parent taxon
- Panthera
- Image
- Uncia uncia - A tail and a cat cropped.jpg
Show 7 more facts
- P105
- species
- P141
- Vulnerable
- P7603
- Appendix I of CITES
- P1889
- Snow Leopard
- P2974
- forest
Article
The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is a species of large cat in the genus Panthera of the family Felidae. It is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia, ranging from eastern Afghanistan, the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to southern Siberia, Mongolia and Western China. It inhabits alpine and subalpine zones at elevations of 3,000–4,500 m (9,800–14,800 ft), but also lives at lower elevations in the northern part of its range.
The snow leopard was long classified in the monotypic genus Uncia. Since phylogenetic studies revealed the relationships among Panthera species, it has been considered a member of that genus. Two subspecies were described based on morphological differences, but genetic differences between the two have not been confirmed. It is therefore regarded as a monotypic species. It forms a sister group with the tiger and the genetic divergence is estimated to have occurred 4.62 to 1.82 million years ago.