The closest relative of the snow leopard is the tiger, not the leopard. The leopard is more closely related to the lion than it is to the the tiger or snow leopard. The main reason the snow leopard was not classified in Panthera because it does not roar. All other species in Panthera roar. Recently, DNA evidence shows that the snow leopard is closely related to the tiger, and anatomical evidence shows that the snow leopard has some of the roaring adaptations found in the throat of the roaring cats. That would suggest that the snow leopard may have once roared, but it has since evolved to be a non-roaring species.
The closest living relative of the genus Panthera is the medium sized clouded leopard of Asia. The genus Panthera likely evolved from an ancestor very similar to the clouded leopard. Since the leopard is the most arboreal of the big cats, it also likely evolved first from the cloud-leopard-like ancestor.
No, Snow leopards are under the species uncia whereas leopards are in the species pardus. No two animals can reproduce unless they are in the same species (this excludes donkeys and horses, but the offspring is sterile).
How closely related are snow leopards (Panthera uncia) to leopards (Panthera pardus)? Can they crossbreed? Why are snow leopards sometimes classified in their genus (Uncia uncia)?
