Panthera leo spelaea or P. spelaea, commonly known as the European or
Eurasian cave lion, is an extinct subspecies of lion. It is known from
fossils and many examples of prehistoric art.
Classifications The cave lion is sometimes considered a
species in its own right, under the name Panthera spelaea, and at least one
authority, basing his conclusion on a comparison of skull shapes, considers
the cave lion to be more closely related to the tiger, which would result in the
formal name Panthera tigris spelaea. However, recent genetic research shows
that among extant felids it was most closely related to the modern lion and
that it formed a single population with the Beringian cave lion, which has been
sometimes considered to represent a distinct form. Therefore, the cave lion
ranged from Europe to Alaska over the Bering land bridge until the late
Pleistocene. However, it is still not clear whether it should be considered a
subspecies of the lion or rather a closely related species.
Analysis of skulls and mandibles of a lion that inhabited Yakutia, Alaska, and
the Yukon Territory during the Pleistocene epoch suggested that it was
a new subspecies different from the other prehistoric lions, Panthera leo
vereshchagini, known as the East Siberian- or Beringian cave lion. It
differed from Panthera leo spelaea by its larger size and from the American
lion by its smaller size and by skull proportions. However, recent genetic
research, using ancient DNA from Beringian lions found no evidence for
separating Panthera leo vereshchagini from the European cave lion; indeed, DNA
signatures from lions from Europe and Alaska were indistinguishable,
suggesting one large panmictic population.
= Evolution= The cave lion evolved from the earlier
Panthera leo fossilis, which first appeared in Europe about 700,000 years
ago. Genetic evidence indicates this lineage was isolated from extant lions
after its dispersal to Europe. P. l. spelaea lived from 370,000 to 10,000
years ago, during the Pleistocene epoch. Apparently, it became extinct about
12,500 14C years ago, as the Würm glaciation receded.
Mitochondrial DNA sequence data from fossil remains show the American lion
represents a sister lineage to P. l. spelaea, and likely arose when an early
P. l. spelaea population became isolated south of the North American continental
ice sheet about 0.34 Mya. Description
This subspecies was one of the largest lions. The skeleton of an adult male,
which was found in 1985 near Siegsdorf, had a shoulder height of around 1.2 m
and a head-body length of 2.1 m without the tail. This is similar to the size of
a very large modern lion. The size of this male has been exceeded by other
specimens of this subspecies. Therefore, this cat may have been around 8%-10%
bigger than modern lions and smaller than the earlier cave lion subspecies
Panthera leo fossilis or the relatively larger American lion. The cave lion is
known from Paleolithic cave paintings, ivory carvings, and clay figurines.
These representations indicate cave lions had rounded, protruding ears,
tufted tails, possibly faint tiger-like stripes, and at least some had a "ruff"
or primitive mane around their necks, possibly indicating males. Other
archaeological artifacts indicate they were featured in Paleolithic religious
rituals. Behaviour
These active carnivores probably preyed upon the large herbivorous animals of
their time, including horses, deer, reindeer, bison and even injured old or
young mammoths. Some paintings of them in caves show several hunting together,
which suggests the hunting strategy of contemporary lionesses. Isotopic
analyses of bone collagen samples extracted from fossils suggest reindeer
and cave bear cubs were prominent in the diets of northwestern European cave
lions. There was a suggestion of a shift in dietary preferences subsequent to the
disappearance of the cave hyena. The last cave lions seem to have focused on
reindeer, up to the brink of local extinction or extirpation of both
species. Small prey was usually brought down with
a blow of the front paw and then held down with both front feet. The animal
was finally killed by a powerful bite from the sharp teeth, at the back of the
neck, in the region of the throat and even in the chest. A cave lion usually
could not run as fast as its prey, but could pounce on it from behind or run up
next to it and bring it down with the paws. In this manner a running animal's
balance could very easily be disturbed. It was most likely the most common large
predator in plains ecosystems. Its extinction may have been related to the
Quaternary extinction event, which wiped out most of the megafauna prey in those
regions. Cave paintings and remains found in the refuse piles of ancient
camp sites indicate they were hunted by early humans, which also may have
contributed to their demise. Range
Cave lions were widespread in parts of Europe, Asia, and northwestern North
America, from Great Britain, Germany, and Spain all the way across the Bering
Strait to the Yukon Territory, and from Siberia to Turkistan.
Habitat The cave lion received its common name
because large quantities of its remains are found in caves, but it is doubtful
whether they lived in them. It had a wide habitat tolerance, but probably
preferred conifer forests and grasslands, where medium-sized to large
herbivores occurred. Fossil footprints of lions, which were found together with
those of reindeer, demonstrate the lions once occurred even in subpolar climates.
The presence of fully articulated adult cave lion skeletons, deep in cave bear
dens, indicates these lions may have occasionally entered dens to prey on
hibernating cave bears, with some dying in the attempt.
See also European lion
American lion, Pantera leo atrox. Panthera toscana
Lion-man Notes
References External links
Prehistoric cats and prehistoric cat-like creatures, from the Messybeast
Cat Resource Archive. American lion, by C. R. Harrington, from
Yukon Beringia Interpretative Center. The mammoth and the flood, volume 5,
chapter 1, by Hans Krause. Hoyle and cavetigers, from the Dinosaur
Mailing List. The Interaction of the European Cave
Lion and Primitive Humans