Leopard species

Question

1) what are two closely related ancestors of the Amur leopard

2) What is the evidence of evolution for Amur leopard, Indochinese leopard, and North Chinese leopard?

3) How are Amur leopard, Indochinese leopard, and North Chinese leopard genetically related?

4) When and where did Amur leopard, Indochinese leopard, and North Chinese leopard originate or descend from?

Answer 1

For use in question #1: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2022/04/27/2022.04.26.489474/F5.large.jpg

1) The most closely related to the Amur Leopard is the African Leopard. The Amur Leopard also shares a close common ancestor with the Lion.

2) This would depend on the data set you have available. If you have a provided cladogram to answer this question, use the branching chain on the cladogram as evidence of a recent common ancestor that connects to all three species in question.

3) This would require you to interpret your traits on a provided cladogram. Again, this question set likely came with a provided cladogram or evolutionary history, so I would need more information to answer your question more accurately.

4) This would be the oldest (or furthest left) on your cladogram. If there is more information or context that you can provide, I will gladly update my answer to help further.