The once-mighty Sundaland subcontinent harboured the giant Asian pangolin, Manis paleojavanica, that nearly matched in size to a Malayan tapir. This was due to the necessary defense needed against the greater number of predators that Sundaland harboured, from much larger Trinil tigers, saber-toothed cats like Megantereon and packs of Megacyon merriami.
Pangolins have almost remained physically unchanged since the emergence in the Eocene of tropical Europe 50 million years ago, tho their earliest predecessor lacked scales across the undersides of its limbs, and were found to have adopted a much wider diet than their successors.
