The tiger 's closest living relatives were previously thought to be the Panthera species lion, leopard and jaguar. Results of genetic analysis indicate that about 2.88 million years ago, the tiger and the snow leopard diverged from the other Panthera species, and that both may be more closely related to each other than to the lion, leopard and jaguar. Results of a phylogeographic study indicate that all living tigers had a common ancestor 72,000 -- 108,000 years ago.
when did the first tiger appeared on earth
about 2.88 million years ago