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.
The giant Mokhnevskaya Cave skull of ca. 475 mm GSL is the largest of P. spelaea specimens (I'll have to redo P. spelaea weights one day). Two reasons as to why I am quite cerrtain this is P. spelaea. One, it is very wide compared to P. fossilis. The 484.7 mm Chateau skull canine alveoli breadths is 125.3 mm, while the Mokhnevskaya skull's canine alveoli breadth is 138 mm. Two, although I haven't been able to confirm the source's exact words, a few papers quote Baryshnikov (2002) estimate of the Mokhnevskaya cave being represented of the last interglacial, which was relatively very recent. Unfortunately, most of the cave lion skulls were not pictured by the author and are sitting somewhere collecting dust like the Javan fossils, so further comparisons of skull morphology beyond what Marciszak's detailed study had is impossible.
According to Sotnikova and Foronova (2014), P. spelaea did make it to Alaska. P. atrox is much more P. fossilis than P. spelaea, and maybe this is evidence as well as to the inability for P. fossilis and P. spelaea to interbreed.
The Sabol (2011a) document is in Quaternaire, a journal that is only published in hard copy that costs quite a bit, so I haven't bothered emailing the author for it. Although, Sotnikova and Foronova (2014) go over the conclusions. I've attached it, p. 12 is where the hypothesis is discussed.