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It is estimated that the ancestors of most big cats split away from the Felinae about 6.37 million years ago.[4] The Felinae, on the other hand, comprises mostly small to medium-sized cats, including the domestic cats, but also some larger cats such as the cougar and cheetah.[5]

A 2010 study published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution has given insight into the exact evolutionary relationships of the big cats.[6] The study reveals that the snow leopard and the tiger are sister species, while the lion, leopard, and jaguar are more closely related to each other. The tiger and snow leopard diverged from the ancestral big cats approximately 3.9 Ma. The tiger then evolved into a unique species towards the end of the Pliocene epoch, approximately 3.2 Ma. The ancestor of the lion, leopard, and jaguar split from other big cats from 4.3–3.8 Ma. Between 3.6–2.5 Ma the jaguar diverged from the ancestor of lions and leopards. Lions and leopards split from one another approximately 2 Ma.[7] The earliest big cat fossil, Panthera blytheae, dating to 4.1−5.95 MA, was discovered in southwest Tibet.[8]
The ability to roar comes from an elongated and specially adapted larynx and hyoid apparatus.[9] The larynx is attached to the hyoid bone that is hanging from a sequence of bones. This sequence of bones the hyoid hangs from are tympanohyal, stylohyal, epihyal, and ceratohyal; these are located in the mandible and skull.[10] In the larynx there are vocal folds that produce the structure needed to stretch the ligament to a length that creates the roar effect. This tissue is made of a thick collagen and elastic fiber that becomes denser as it approaches the epithelial mucosal lining.[11] When this large pad folds it creates a low natural frequency, causing the cartilage walls of the larynx to vibrate. When it begins to vibrate the sound moves from a high to low air resistance which makes the roaring.

The lion's larynx is longest, giving it the most robust roar. The roar in good conditions can be heard 8 or even 10 km away.[12] All five extant members of the genus Panthera contain this elongated hyoid but owing to differences in the larynx the snow leopard cannot roar. Unlike the roaring cats in their family, the snow leopard is distinguished by the lack of a large pad of fibro-elastic tissue that allows for a large vocal fold.