Panthera spelaea Temporal range: Middle-Late Pleistocene, | |
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Skeleton in Natural History Museum, Vienna | |
Scientific 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 | |
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Red indicates the maximal range of Panthera spelaea, blue Panthera atrox , and green Panthera leo . | |
Synonyms | |
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Panthera spelaea, also known as the cave lion or steppe lion, [1] is an extinct Panthera species that most likely evolved in Europe after the third 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]
Felis spelaea was the scientific name used by Georg August Goldfuss in 1810 for a fossil lion skull that was 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 Siberia and Yukon, which have smaller skulls and teeth than the average P. spelaea. [16] Before 2020, genetic analysis using ancient DNA provided no evidence for their distinct subspecific status; DNA signatures from P. spelaea from Europe and Alaska were indistinguishable, suggesting one large panmictic population. [3] [17] However, analysis of mitochondrial genome sequences from 31 cave lions showed that they fall into two 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]
Lion-like pantherine felids first appeared in the Tanzanian Olduvai Gorge about 1.7 to 1.2 million years ago. These cats dispersed to Europe from East Africa in the first half of the Middle Pleistocene, giving rise to P. fossilis in Central Europe by 610,000 years ago. [20] Panthera spelaea evolved from P. fossilis about 460,000 years ago in central Europe during the late Saalian glaciation or early 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 Poland were radiocarbon dated to between the early and late Weichselian glaciation, and are between 109,000 and 57,000 years old. [21] In Eurasia, it became extinct between 14,900 and 14,100 years ago, and survived in Beringia until 13,800 to 13,300 years ago as the Weichselian glaciation receded. [6] [5] Mitochondrial DNA sequence data from fossil lion remains show that the American lion represents a sister group of P. spelaea, and likely arose when an early P. spelaea population became isolated south of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet about 340,000 years ago. [3] The following cladogram shows the genetic relationship between P. spelaea and other pantherine cats. [4]
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]
P. spelaea is also known from the Löwenmensch figurine found in Vogelherd cave in 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]
P. spelaea formed a contiguous population from western Europe to the Yukon over the Bering land bridge, across the range of the mammoth steppe. [6] [32] It was widely distributed in the Iberian Peninsula, [33] Southeast Europe, [34] Great Britain, [6] Central Europe, [35] [36] [37] the East European Plain, [6] the Ural Mountains, [38] and across most of 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 Maly Anyuy River in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, which still retained some clumps of hair. [42] In the Sakha Republic's Khayrgas Cave, bones of P. spelaea were found together with remains of humans, wolf, reindeer, Pleistocene 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]
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 (Russian : Тирехтях), a tributary of the Indigirka River. This male cub was thought to be slightly older than the 2015 cubs at the time of its death; it is estimated to have been around one and a half to two months. [49] In 2018, another preserved carcass of a cub was found in a location 15 m (50 ft) away. It was considered to be around a month old when it died approximately 50,000 years ago, and presumed to be a sibling of the male cub. [50] However, 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]
P. spelaea inhabited colder environments such as mammoth steppe and boreal forest. It was one of the keystone species of the mammoth steppe, being one of the main apex predators alongside the 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 collagen samples extracted from fossils indicate that cave bear cubs, reindeer and other cervids (deer) were prominent in the diet of cave lions. Later cave lions seem to have preyed foremost on reindeer, up to the brink of local extinction or extirpation of both species. [53] [57] Other possible prey species were giant deer, red deer, wild horse, muskox, aurochs, wisent, steppe bison, young 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]
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]
A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus Mammuthus. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks. They lived from the late Miocene epoch into the Holocene about 4,000 years ago, and various species existed in Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America. Mammoths are more closely related to living Asian elephants than African elephants.
The lion is a large cat of the genus Panthera, native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult male lions are larger than females and have a prominent mane. It is a social species, forming groups called prides. A lion's pride consists of a few adult males, related females, and cubs. Groups of female lions usually hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. The lion is an apex and keystone predator; although some lions scavenge when opportunities occur and have been known to hunt humans, lions typically do not actively seek out and prey on humans.
The leopard is one of the five extant species in the genus Panthera. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of 92–183 cm (36–72 in) with a 66–102 cm (26–40 in) long tail and a shoulder height of 60–70 cm (24–28 in). Males typically weigh 30.9–72 kg (68–159 lb), and females 20.5–43 kg (45–95 lb).
Panthera is a genus within the family Felidae, it is one of two extant genera in the subfamily Pantherinae, and contains the largest living members of the cat family. There are 5 living species, the tiger, jaguar, lion, leopard and snow leopard and a number of extinct species.
The woolly rhinoceros is an extinct species of rhinoceros that inhabited northern Eurasia during the Pleistocene epoch. The woolly rhinoceros was a member of the Pleistocene megafauna. The woolly rhinoceros was covered with long, thick hair that allowed it to survive in the extremely cold, harsh mammoth steppe. It had a massive hump reaching from its shoulder and fed mainly on herbaceous plants that grew in the steppe. Mummified carcasses preserved in permafrost and many bone remains of woolly rhinoceroses have been found. Images of woolly rhinoceroses are found among cave paintings in Europe and Asia. The species range contracted towards Siberia beginning around 17,000 years ago, with the youngest known records being around 14,000 years old in northeast Siberia, coinciding with the Bølling–Allerød warming, which likely disrupted its habitat.
The steppe bison or steppe wisent is an extinct species of bison. It was widely distributed across the mammoth steppe, ranging from Western Europe to eastern Beringia in North America during the Late Pleistocene. It is ancestral to all North American bison, including ultimately modern American bison. Three chronological subspecies, Bison priscus priscus, Bison priscus mediator, and Bison priscus gigas, have been suggested.
Panthera atrox, better known as the American lion, also called the North American lion, or American cave lion, is an extinct pantherine cat. Panthera atrox lived in North America during the Pleistocene epoch, from around 340,000 to 12,800 years ago. The species was initially described by American paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1853 based on a fragmentary mandible (jawbone) from Mississippi; the species name ('atrox') means "savage" or "cruel". The status of the species is debated, with some mammalogists and paleontologists considering it a distinct species or a subspecies of Panthera leo, which contains living lions. However, novel genetic evidence has shown that it is instead a distinct species derived from the Eurasian cave or steppe lion, evolving after its geographic isolation in North America. Its fossils have been excavated from Alaska to Mexico. It was about 25% larger than the modern lion, making it one of the largest known felids.
During the Last Glacial Maximum, the mammoth steppe, also known as steppe-tundra, was once the Earth's most extensive biome. It stretched east-to-west, from the Iberian Peninsula in the west of Europe, across Eurasia to North America, through Beringia and Canada; from north-to-south, the steppe reached from the arctic islands southward to China. The mammoth steppe was cold and dry, and relatively featureless, though topography and geography varied considerably throughout. Some areas featured rivers which, through erosion, naturally created gorges, gulleys, or small glens. The continual glacial recession and advancement over millennia contributed more to the formation of larger valleys and different geographical features. Overall, however, the steppe is known to be flat and expansive grassland. The vegetation was dominated by palatable, high-productivity grasses, herbs and willow shrubs.
The Chibanian, widely known as the Middle Pleistocene, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. The Chibanian name was officially ratified in January 2020. It is currently estimated to span the time between 0.770 Ma and 0.126 Ma, also expressed as 770–126 ka. It includes the transition in palaeoanthropology from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic over 300 ka.
The Pantherinae is a subfamily of the Felidae; it was named and first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1917 as only including the Panthera species. The Pantherinae genetically diverged from a common ancestor between 9.32 to 4.47 million years ago and 10.67 to 3.76 million years ago.
The history of lions in Europe is based on fossils of Pleistocene and Holocene lions excavated in Europe since the early 19th century. The first lion fossil was excavated in southern Germany, and described by Georg August Goldfuss using the scientific name Felis spelaea. It probably dates to the Würm glaciation, and is 191,000 to 57,000 years old. Older lion skull fragments were excavated in Germany and described by Wilhelm von Reichenau under Felis fossilis in 1906. These are estimated at between 621,000 and 533,000 years old. The modern lion inhabited parts of Southern Europe since the early Holocene.
The straight-tusked elephant is an extinct species of elephant that inhabited Europe and Western Asia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. It was larger than any living elephant, with adult males suggested to reach 3.81–4.2 metres (12.5–13.8 ft) in shoulder height, and 11.3–15 tonnes in weight. Like modern elephants, the straight-tusked elephant lived in herds, flourishing during interglacial periods, when its range would extend as far north as Great Britain. Skeletons found in association with stone tools and wooden spears suggest they were scavenged and hunted by early humans, including Neanderthals. It is the ancestral species of most dwarf elephants that inhabited islands in the Mediterranean.
Panthera gombaszoegensis, also known as the European jaguar, is a Panthera species that lived from about 2.0 to 0.35 million years ago in Europe The first fossils were excavated in 1938 in Gombasek, Slovakia. P. gombaszoegensis was medium-large sized species that formed an important part of the European carnivore guild for a period of over a million years. Many authors have posited that the species is the ancestor of the American jaguar, with some authors considering it the subspecies Panthera onca gombaszoegensis, though the close relationship between the two species has been questioned.
Panthera fossilis, is an extinct species of cat belonging to the genus Panthera, known from remains found in Eurasia spanning the Middle Pleistocene and possibly into the Early Pleistocene. P. fossilis has sometimes been referred to by the common names steppe lion or cave lion, though these names are conventionally restricted to the later related species P. spelaea, to which P. fossilis is probably ancestral.
The cave hyena, also known as the Ice Age spotted hyena, is a paleosubspecies of spotted hyena in Eurasia, which ranged from the Iberian Peninsula to eastern Siberia. It is one of the best known mammals of the Ice Age and is well represented in many European bone caves. It preyed on large mammals, and was responsible for the accumulation of hundreds of large Pleistocene mammal bones in areas including horizontal caves, sinkholes, mud pits, and muddy areas along rivers.
Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis is an extinct species of dwarf elephant belonging to the genus Palaeoloxodon, native to the Siculo-Maltese archipelago during the late Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene. It is derived from the European mainland straight-tusked elephant.
Panthera pardus spelaea, also known as the European Ice Age leopard, is a fossil leopard subspecies which roamed Europe in the Late Pleistocene and possibly the Holocene.
The cave wolf is an extinct glacial mammoth steppe-adapted white wolf that lived during the Middle Pleistocene to the Late Pleistocene. It inhabited Europe, where its remains have been found in many caves. Its habitat included the mammoth steppe grasslands and boreal needle forests. This large wolf was short-legged compared to its body size, yet its leg size is comparable with that of the Arctic wolf C. l. arctos. Mitochondrial DNA analysis shows it to be more closely related to the domestic dog than the modern wolf, indicating possible ancestry.
Ursus ingressus is an extinct species of the family Ursidae that lived in Central Europe during the Late Pleistocene. It is named after the Gamssulzen Cave in Austria, where the holotype of this species was found.
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