Rare tiger fossils dating back about 20,000 years have been unearthed in Pilandok Cave in Quezon, Palawan, providing the first definitive evidence that tigers once roamed the Philippine archipelago during the Ice Age.

The discovery was made by researchers from the University of the Philippines Diliman, the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP), and members of the indigenous Pala'wan community. Pilandok Cave lies within the ancestral domain of the Pala'wan people of Maasin.

According to the NMP, the fossils belonged to Panthera tigris and date to approximately 22,000 to 20,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Maximum, when Palawan's forests and landscapes were vastly different from today.

The findings, published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal, confirm that Palawan is the only known site in the Philippines where Pleistocene-era tiger fossils have been discovered.

The study, titled Halimaw na/ng Nakalipas: Power, Personhood, and the Tigers of Palawan Island, Philippines, was authored by UP School of Archaeology associate professor Dr. Janine Ochoa and co-authored by National Museum archaeologists Dr. Alexandra de Leon and Dr. Ame Garong, together with Gaddi Narte of the indigenous Pala'wan leadership council.

Researchers said the cave contains abundant evidence of prehistoric human activity, including deer hunting and the gathering of freshwater mollusks. What makes the tiger remains exceptional, however, is that they consist almost entirely of foot bones bearing cut marks consistent with butchery.

"Unlike the food remains, the tiger assemblage is remarkably selective, consisting solely of foot bones," the NMP said. Researchers believe the marks resulted from skinning the animal or removing its forefeet to obtain the pelt or paws.