The tiger skull, unearthed in Longdan region in northwestern China, is estimated to be between 2.16 and 2.55 million years old. It's the oldest complete skull ever discovered of a 'pantherine' big cat.
The skull is a little smaller than the head of today's tigers, about the size of a jaguar, but it's very recognisable as the same species we know today.
The researchers, comparing the skull, observed that it has given indication that tigers may have originally evolved in China.
The skull had well-developed upper fangs, and appears to be of a male. It pre-dates all other known tiger fossils by nearly half a million years.
The researchers compared the skull with 207 other tiger skulls, 66 jaguar skulls and 100 leopard skulls.
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