Leopard catshark large black spots. Subsequent authors have recognized these names as based on pattern variants of the leopard catshark; resolving the identity of "P. marleyi" proved especially problematic and it was not confirmed to be a synonym of this species until 2003. The valid scientific name of the leopard catshark is considered to be "Poroderma pantherinum", attributed to Müller and Henle as they were responsible for the description. The specific epithet "pantherinum" refers to the panther-like patterning of the type specimen, a long female collected off the Cape of Good Hope. Other common names for this shark include barbeled catshark and
Leopard only eight subspecies and subsumed "P. p. ciscaucasica" to "P. p. tulliana", and "P. p. japonensis" to "P. p. orientalis". The last common ancestor of the genera "Panthera" and "Neofelis" is believed to have occurred about 6.37 million years ago. The clouded leopard was the first to diverge from the rest of the "Panthera" lineage, followed by the snow leopard. The genus "Panthera" is believed to have emerged in Asia, from where they subsequently emigrated to Africa. The tiger-snow leopard clade diverged from the rest of "Panthera" around 2.9 million years ago. Johnson and colleagues suggest that the leopard diverged