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The Cave Lion (Panthera spelaea and Panthera fossilis)

United States tigerluver Offline
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( This post was last modified: 09-12-2016, 09:08 PM by tigerluver )

The Cave lion (Panthera fossilis and Panthera spelaea)

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Phylogeny: 

The cave lion's place as a true lion has long been debated. The most recent genetic analysis places the lineages as its own unique species, which is however, part of the lion clade.

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Within the lineage, it is uncertain whether there were two species of cave lion or just a single, evolving lineage. Some authorities classify Panthera fossilis and Panthera spelaea as distinct species (Sabol 2011; Sotnikova and Foronova 2014), while other assert a chronological, evolutionary relationship (Marciszak et al. 2014)

Temporal range:
The earliest occurrence of the more ancient cave lion, Panthera (spelaea?) fossilis have been dated to 700 kya. However, a more recent genetic study dates at least Panthera spelaea stem group to an earlier date of emergence, around 1.89 million years ago (Barnett et al. 2016).

Physical Range:
The entire upper half was essentially the domain of this large predator.
 
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From Ersmark et al. (2015).

Appearance:
Scientists have been fortunate enough to find preserve hairs of the species. Their coat was thick and of a red to brown hue. 


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From Chernova et al. (2016)



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Males likely lacked the manes of the modern lion (Panthera leo) present today based on Pleistocene cave art. 

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Habitat:
The cave lions have been restricted to open habitats for essentially the entirety of their existence (Meloro et al. 2013). 

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Size:
The largest of known cave lions have bones that are up to 20% larger, and often even more robust, than that of an average modern lion. Such would indicate that the largest of cave lions exceeded 300 kg. 
Fossils of note are a 470 mm from Mladec, Czech Republic (Panthera spelaea), a 465 mm ulna from Mosbach 2, Germany (Pantherae fossilis), a c. 192 mm metatarsal 3 from Chateau, France (Panthera fossilis), c. 475 mm skull from the Urals, Eastern Russia (Panthera spelaea), and a 485 mm skull from Chateau, France (Panthera fossilis).

Diet:
Bocherens et al. (2011) found cave lions to be very of reindeer (Rangifer rangifer). Some lions may have specialized in taking down young cave bears as well. 

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Sociality:
A famous cave painting from France possibly shows a group of cave lions.

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However, a dietary study has suggested that cave lions were likely solitary due to prey preferences.
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The Cave Lion (Panthera spelaea and Panthera fossilis) - tigerluver - 09-10-2016, 01:10 AM



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