China’s ancient tiny cat fossil could belong to the smallest feline ever found

The palm-sized animal was uncovered in Hualongdong cave, where scientists are studying the humans who lived there 30,000 years ago

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An artist’s impression of the tiny species leopard cat whose remains were uncovered in Anhui province, eastern China. Illustration: X/ @HodariNundu

Published: 9:00pm, 7 Jan 2025Updated: 10:24pm, 7 Jan 2025

Chinese scientists have found the fossilised remains of what could be the smallest cat ever discovered – in the same cave where a family of 20 people lived around 30,000 years ago.

The lower jaw fragment discovered in the Hualongdong cave in Anhui province, eastern China, belonged to an extinct leopard cat that was small enough to be easily held with one hand, the researchers said.

According to the paper published in November by the peer-reviewed journal Annales Zoologici Fennici, the species – dubbed Prionailurus kurteni – was smaller than a house cat and represents the smallest known fossil of the Felidae family to date.

The researchers were from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology (IVVP), Northeast Forestry University in Harbin, and the Swedish Museum of Natural History.

They said the animal was much smaller than modern leopard cats. Instead, it was comparable in size to the rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) of South Asia and Felis nigripes, commonly known as the black-footed cat, found in Africa.

These are two of the smallest modern cats, with a maximum head-and-body length of around 48cm (19in) and 52cm (20.5in), respectively.

IVPP researcher and study author Jiangzuo Qigao said leopard cat fossils were a rare find because their remains decayed quickly in the forested habitat they preferred. However, this cat’s fossil was protected by the cave environment.