There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
In order for the Asian Cave lions to maintain the size of their European cousins, they must colonize the entire China, but they couldn't do it because most parts of China/Far East were already occupied by another dominant species of Panthera, the tiger.
The Cave lions were allowed to grow large in Europe because of the North Atlantic current that allowed the vegetation to grow in number to sustain those large herbivores which was their main prey base.
When you pass the eastern side of the Ural, it suddenly becomes freezing cold because the mountain has blocked the warm wind from the Atlantic side.
So entire Siberia that stretches from Ural to Beringia was freezing cold which is unable to sustain a large prey base, but except Manchuria which was influenced by the Pacific current and it was warmer than the rest of Siberia.
So the Asian Cave lion could colonize the entire China via Manchuria as the doorstep, but their expansion had been stalled by the presence of the tiger species.