Tigers, snow leopards are sister species

A new study shows that tigers evolved about 3 million years ago and their closest living relative is the endangered snow leopard.

According to the study published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, the tiger and snow leopard are "sister species." , Press TV reported.

DNA studies revealed that tigers are more ancient than other big cats such as lions, leopards and jaguars, which belong to the Panthera genus, BBC reported.

Brian Davis, Gang Li and Professor William Murphy, who studied all these species, came to the conclusion that lions, leopards and jaguars are more closely related to each other than to tigers.

Their findings showed that the jaguar began to evolve about 3.6 to 2.5 million years ago and lions and leopards split from one other about 3.1 to 1.95 million years ago.

The tiger, however, began evolving 3.2 million years ago and therefore emerged by this point.