300,000 years ago, the world's tiniest cat roamed the Earth, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

A completely new species of cat has been discovered thanks to fossils found in a cave in China. Researchers identified the new species from a fragment of a jawbone and suggest that it coexisted with ancient humans between 275,000 and 331,000 years ago, according to IFLScience.

The new species has been named Prionailurus kurteni and is believed by scientists to belong to a broader group known as leopard cats. It is noteworthy that only a few species from this group have survived to the present day.

The team believes that this new species is likely the smallest known representative of the cat family to date—Prionailurus kurteni is thought to be small enough to fit in a human palm. Researchers point out that this new species is comparable to, and potentially even smaller than, some modern species, such as the rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) and the black-footed cat (Felis nigripes), which are among the tiniest surviving members of the cat family. According to the lead author of the study, Cigaо Jiangzuo, the new species of ancient cats is clearly smaller than the modern domestic cat, weighing only about 1 kilogram.

Fossil findings of cats in this region are extremely rare, as the bones are often tiny and fragile, making preservation difficult. Most previously discovered fossils, including this one, consist of teeth and jawbones. Unfortunately, this complicates the identification of the species and the establishment of its evolutionary relationships.

At the same time, the Hualundong cave, where the fossil was found, is a sort of "hotspot" for scientific discoveries. It has already been the source of numerous fossils presented in previous studies. Scientists have previously discovered fossils of ancient humans, brown bears, and many voles here. The presence of these additional fossils led the team to hypothesize that this area was cooler than other similar locations in southern China and to suggest a connection between the new cat species and the ancient humans who lived there.

According to Jiangzuo, the remnants of food left by ancient humans likely attracted the attention of rats and small leopard cats. However, scientists still do not know whether leopard cats were part of the diet of ancient humans, as researchers have not found any signs of butchering on the fossils.

The angle of one of the teeth in the fossil also suggests that the new species may provide a link between leopard cats and the common ancestors of domestic cats, as well as the famous grumpy Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul).

The authors of the study also note that they plan to continue their work on studying fossil cats in China and around the world, which have not been sufficiently examined in the past. The team believes that they will be able to trace the origin and diversity of the cat family in the ancient history of the planet in the future.