# Quibas site in Murcia yields oldest known Iberian lynx skeleton: 60 bones, 1.07–0.99 million years old

- Published: 2026-11-14 04:56 UTC
- Section: Life & Health › Biology & biochemistry
- Tags: oldest Iberian lynx skeleton, Quibas site Abanilla, Lynx pardinus fossil, Murcia paleontology, lynx 1 million years old, Epivillafranchian lynx, Quibas-Sima section, magnetostratigraphy dating
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-9206736062e30ac4a6967fb5_quibas_site_in/

**Paleontologists confirmed about 60 bones of a single animal at the Quibas site in Abanilla. Its age falls in the period when the species is thought to have appeared.**

![Quibas site in Murcia yields oldest known Iberian lynx skeleton: 60 bones, 1.07–0.99 million years old](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/21278ef007b851ab.jpg)
*xataka.com*

Paleontologists have confirmed the oldest known skeleton of an Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) at the Quibas site in Abanilla, Murcia, according to xataka.com. The find consists of 60 pieces from a single individual, including ribs and vertebrae [1]. It is the result of years of excavation rather than a single field season [1].

## Excavation and replica

The work began to take shape in 2021, during excavation campaigns in the Murcian sierra by researchers of the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution. They identified an exceptionally well-preserved collection of bones [1]. A replica made of more than 60 bones will be exhibited at the Sierra de Quibas Paleontological Interpretation Centre [1].

## Age and size of the ancestor

Dating a fossil is as hard as finding it, because no system is fully reliable. A 2020 study dated the Quibas-Sima section, a succession of terrestrial vertebrates, to between 1.2 and 0.78 million years, using the small vertebrates found there and magnetostratigraphy [1]. Cross-referencing the available data, the remains of the Murcian lynx fall within a window of 1.07 to 0.99 million years [1].

This window matters because science had estimated that the Iberian lynx appeared between 1 and 1.1 million years ago. It had also been proposed that fossil lynxes of southwestern Europe from the Epivillafranchian onward already belonged to Lynx pardinus [1].

The researchers report that this early lynx was somewhat larger than the animals that evolved from it. They also noted that it ate less rabbit and more often caught medium-sized prey, such as fawns of fallow deer or goats [1]. The diet question remains open: confirming the prey types requires a published scientific paper analysing dental wear, among other variables [1].

## Sources

1. [xataka.com](https://www.xataka.com/ecologia-y-naturaleza/hallado-murcia-esqueleto-antiguo-lince-iberico-viaje-millon-anos-a-origenes-felino-emblematico)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-9206736062e30ac4a6967fb5_quibas_site_in/