The Cave Lion (Panthera spelaea and Panthera fossilis)

[GrizzlyClaws]

(11-14-2017, 11:48 AM)Polar Wrote:

(11-14-2017, 11:29 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: @tigerluver

What is your own interpretation about the size of the giant Pleistocene African lions?

BTW, it seems they were morphologically closer to the northern branch of Panthera leo, maybe the northern branch has simply preserved more archaic traits compared to the southern branch.

African lions were bigger back then? Didn't know that. I know for sure that ancient Asian lions were bigger before.

The northern branch of lions had particularly larger manes than southern counterparts, but I don't know if the Barbary/Asian lions are significantly (or were) ever bigger than the African lions on average. 

Northern lions also tend to have a slightly more rounded skull and smoother mandibular edges (much like tigers) compared to mainland African lions, and some of these Pleistocene African lions had those same features. 

Is there a thread which goes further into the other differences between Barbary and Sub-Saharan lions?

Although the authors didn’t directly conclude its relationship with the modern lions, but it is quite likely this population could be considered ancestral to the modern lions. Since the timeline looks quite consistent with the emergence and divergence of the modern lion populations.

Probably the northern branch of the modern lions had inherited more distinct traits of their ancestors. Reply