Panthera spelaea

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Panthera spelaea
Temporal range:
Ma
↓
Skeleton in Natural History Museum, Vienna
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Pantherinae
Genus: Panthera
Species:
†P. spelaea
Binomial name
†Panthera spelaea
Goldfuss, 1810
Subspecies
  • Panthera spelaea vereshchagini (Baryshnikov & Boeskorov, 2001)
  • Panthera spelaea spelaea Goldfuss, 1810
Red indicates the maximal range of Panthera spelaea, blue Panthera atrox, and green Panthera leo.
Synonyms
  • Panthera leo spelaea M. Boule & L. De Villeneuve, 1927

Panthera spelaea, also known as the cave lion or steppe lion,

Cromerian interglacial stage, less than 600,000 years ago. Genetic analysis of ancient DNA has revealed that while closely related, it was a distinct species genetically isolated from the modern lion (Panthera leo) occurring in Africa and Asia,[2] with the genetic divergence between the two species variously estimated between 1.9 million[3][4] and 600,000 years ago.[5] It is closely related and probably ancestral to the American lion (Panthera atrox).[5] The species ranged from Western Europe to eastern Beringia in North America, and was a prominent member of the mammoth steppe fauna. It became extinct about 13,000 years ago.[6]

Taxonomy

Cave lion skull exhibited in the Muséum de Toulouse, France

Felis spelaea was the

excavated in a cave in southern Germany.[7] It possibly dates to the Würm glaciation.[8][2][6]

Several authors regarded Panthera spelaea as a subspecies of the modern lion, and therefore as Panthera leo spelaea.[9][10][11][2] One author considered the cave lion to be more closely related to the tiger based on a comparison of skull shapes, and proposed the scientific name Panthera tigris spelaea.[12]

Results from morphological studies showed that it is distinct in cranial and dental anatomy to justify the specific status of Panthera spelaea.[13][14] Results of phylogenetic studies also support this assessment.[15][3][4]

In 2001, the subspecies Panthera spelaea vereshchagini was proposed for seven specimens found in

monophyletic clades. One lived across western Europe and the other was restricted to Beringia during the Pleistocene. For this reason, the Beringian population is considered a distinct subspecies, P. s. vereshchagini.[17][18]

Evolution

Cave lions and bison depicted in the Chauvet Cave, France[19]

Lion-like

Eemian and would have been common throughout Eurasia from 450,000 to 14,000 years ago. Recent nuclear genomic evidence suggest that interbreeding between modern lions and all Eurasian fossil lions took place up until 500,000 years ago, but by 470,000 years ago, no subsequent interbreeding between the two lineages occurred.[2][20][5]

P. spelaea bone fragments excavated in

Cordilleran Ice Sheet about 340,000 years ago.[3]
The following cladogram shows the genetic relationship between P. spelaea and other pantherine cats.[4]

Felis catus

Neofelis nebulosa

Panthera tigris sondaica

Panthera tigris tigris

Panthera onca

Panthera uncia

Panthera pardus pardus

Panthera pardus orientalis

Characteristics

Cave lions, Chamber of Felines, Lascaux caves

Carvings and

cave paintings of cave lions, which were discovered in the Lascaux and Chauvet Caves in France, were dated to 15,000 to 17,000 years old.[19][22] A drawing in the Chauvet cave depicts two cave lions walking together. The one in the foreground is slightly smaller than the one in the background, which has been drawn with a scrotum and without a mane.[23] Such cave paintings suggest that male cave lions completely lacked manes, or at most had very small manes.[6]

Life restoration

P. spelaea is also known from the

Swabian Alb, southwest Germany, which dates to the Aurignacian culture. These archaeological artifacts indicate that it may have been featured in Paleolithic religious rituals.[24][25]

P. spelaea was thought to have been one of the largest lion species. The skeleton of an adult male found in 1985 near Siegsdorf in Germany had a shoulder height of around 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) and a head-body length of 2 m (6 ft 7 in) without the tail, similar in size to large modern lions.[26] The size of this male was exceeded by other specimens, with another male reaching 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) long without the tail.[citation needed] Similarly, footprints attributed to a male cave lion measured 15 cm (6 in) across. The heaviest Panthera spelaea was estimated to weigh 339 kg (747 lb).[27]

This shows that P. spelaea would have been up to or over 12% larger than modern lions, but still smaller than the earlier Panthera fossilis or the American lion (P. atrox). Cave paintings almost exclusively show hunting animals without a mane, suggesting that males were indeed maneless.[28][29] P. spelaea had a relatively longer and narrower muzzle compared to that of the extant lion. Despite this, the two species do not exhibit major differences in morphology.[6] Like modern lions, females were smaller than males.[30]

In 2016, hair found near the

Maly Anyuy River was identified as cave lion hair through DNA analysis. Comparison with hair of a modern lion revealed that cave lion hair was probably similar in colour as that of the modern lion, though slightly lighter. In addition, the cave lion is thought to have had a very thick and dense undercoat comprising closed and compressed yellowish-to-white wavy downy hair with a smaller mass of darker-coloured guard hairs, possibly an adaptation to the Ice Age climate.[31]

Distribution and habitat

Cave lions and other Ice Age fauna in northern Spain, by Mauricio Antón

P. spelaea formed a contiguous population from western Europe to the

northern Eurasia into Alaska and Yukon.[6] The cave lion had a wide elevation range as well; in Slovakia, skull, femur and pelvis remains were excavated in ten Karst caves in hilly and montane areas at elevations from 240 to 1,133 m (787 to 3,717 ft).[39]

The oldest known fossils dated with radiocarbon dating were excavated in northeastern Russia and were radiocarbon dated at 62,400 years old.[6] Phalanx bones excavated in Spain's La Garma cave complex were radiocarbon dated to 14,300–14,000 years old.[40] The youngest known fossils are dated 11,925 years old and originated near Fairbanks, Alaska.[6] In Western Europe, however, P. spelaea may have survived into the Early Holocene.[41]

In 2008, a well-preserved mature cave lion specimen was unearthed near the

horse and fish in a layer dated 13,200–21,500 years old.[43]

The cave lion probably inhabited predominantly open habitats such as steppe and grasslands although it would have also have occurred in open woodlands as well.[6] It also lived in mountainous regions, likely because it sought out hibernating bears in montane caves as a food source during the winter.[44]

Discoveries

"Sparta", a 28,000 year old mummified female cave lion cub from the banks of the Semyuelyakh River in Siberia.[18]

In 2015, two frozen cave lion cubs, estimated to be between 25,000 and 55,000 years old, were discovered close to the

Uyandina River in Yakutia, Siberia in permafrost.[45][46][47]
Research results indicate that the cubs were likely barely a week old at the time of their deaths, as their milk teeth had not fully erupted. Further evidence suggests the cubs were hidden at a den site until they were strong enough to follow their mother back to the pride, as with modern lions. Researchers believe that the cubs were trapped and killed by a landslide, and that the absence of oxygen underground hindered their decomposition and allowed the cubs to be preserved in such good condition. A second expedition to the site where the cubs were found was planned for 2016, in hopes of finding either the remains of a third cub or possibly the cubs' mother.[48]

In 2017, another frozen specimen, thought to be a lion cub, was found in Yakutia on the banks of the Tirekhtyakh River (

carbon dating showed them to have lived about 15,000 years apart, with the female estimated to have lived 28,000 years ago, and the male 43,448 years ago.[18] Both cubs were well preserved, albeit with a few damages, with the female possibly being the "best preserved" animal discovered from the Ice age.[51]


Paleobiology

A cave lion with a reindeer, painting by Heinrich Harder[52]

P. spelaea inhabited colder environments such as

gray wolf, cave hyena and brown bear.[53] Large amounts of bones belonging to P. spelaea were excavated in caves, where bones of cave hyena, cave bear and Paleolithic artefacts were also found.[54][55] Some of these accumulations of cave lion bones have been attributed to hoarding of meat from cave lion carcasses by cave hyenas in caves occupied by the latter.[56] It is unclear whether P. spelaea was social like the modern lion; some evidence indicates that it may have been solitary.[53]

Isotopic analyses of bone

woolly rhino, and young woolly mammoth. It likely competed for prey with the European Ice Age leopard, cave hyenas, brown bears and grey wolves in Eurasia,[58] along with short-faced bears, Homotherium, Beringian wolves and dire wolves in Beringia.[53][59]

Extinction

The extinction of the Eurasian cave lion was multifaceted, being attributable to a combination of human activity, the decline of the mammoth steppe, and changes in the herbivore guild.[60] There is direct evidence of human hunting of cave lions and exploitation of their pelts for ritualistic purposes during the Magdalenian, which was likely an important factor contributing to their ultimate demise.[40]

See also

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External links

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