Cave lion Fossil range: Pleistocene
Conservation status
Prehistoric
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Felidae Genus: Panthera Species: P. leo Subspecies: P. l. spelaea
Trinomial name
Panthera leo spelaea Goldfuss, 1810

The cave lion, also known as the European or Eurasian cave lion, is an extinct feline known from fossils and a wide variety of prehistoric art. The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) is part of the geologic timescale. ... Image File history File links Hoehlenloewe_CaveLion_hharder. ... The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Subclasses Allotheria* Order Multituberculata (extinct) Order Volaticotheria (extinct) Order Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Order Triconodonta (extinct) Order Docodonta (extinct) Prototheria Order Monotremata Theria Infraclass Trituberculata (extinct) Infraclass Marsupialia Infraclass Eutheria The mammals are the class of vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in females for the nourishment of young, from... Families 17, See classification The diverse order Carnivora (IPA: or IPA: ; from Latin carō (stem carn-) flesh, + vorāre to devour) includes over 260 placental mammals. ... Subfamilies Felinae Pantherinae †Machairodontinae The Felidae family includes the Lion, the Tiger, the Domestic Cats, and other felines as its members. ... Species Panthera is a genus of the family Felidae (the cats), which contains four well-known species: the tiger, lion, leopard, and jaguar. ... Binomial name Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) Distribution of Lions in Africa Synonyms Felis leo (Linnaeus, 1758) The lion (Panthera leo) is a mammal of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. ... Trinomial nomenclature is a taxonomic naming system that extends the standard system of binomial nomenclature by adding a third taxon. ... Georg August Goldfuss (April 18, 1782 - October 2, 1848) was a German palaeontologist. ... In biology and ecology, extinction is the ceasing of existence of a species or group of species. ... Subfamilies Felinae Pantherinae †Machairodontinae The Felidae family includes the Lion, the Tiger, the Domestic Cats, and other felines as its members. ... Three small ammonite fossils, each approximately 1. ... This page is incomplete. ...

Size

Skeleton of a cave lion from the Slouper cave near Brno in the Czech Republic.

This cat was one of the largest cats of all time, matched only by the Amur tiger and the hybrid known as a Liger and is also the largest subspecies of lion to have ever existed. The cave lion specimens found were 3.5 m (11.5 ft) in length (25% larger than today's largest African lions), with an estimated male weight of between 270 kg (600 lb) and 320 kg (700 lb), and a typical female weighing 175 kg (385 lb). Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (800x614, 64 KB) Beschreibung: Höhlenlöwe (Panthera leo spelaea), Skelettfund in der Slouper-Höhle in Mähren, Ausstellung des Fundes im Wiener Hofmuseum Quelle: Wilhelm Bölsche: Entwicklungsgeschichte der Natur, Band 2, 1896 Digitalisierung: Agon S. Buchholz --> Asb, Buch... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (800x614, 64 KB) Beschreibung: Höhlenlöwe (Panthera leo spelaea), Skelettfund in der Slouper-Höhle in Mähren, Ausstellung des Fundes im Wiener Hofmuseum Quelle: Wilhelm Bölsche: Entwicklungsgeschichte der Natur, Band 2, 1896 Digitalisierung: Agon S. Buchholz --> Asb, Buch... Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region South Moravia Founded 1146 Area  - city 230. ... Trinomial name Panthera tigris altaica Temminck, 1884 Distribution of the Amur Tiger (in red) A stretching Siberian tiger The Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is a rare subspecies of tiger (). Also known as the Siberian, Korean, Manchurian, or North China Tiger, it is the largest natural animal in the feline... Liger The liger, is a hybrid cross between a male panthera leo (lion), and a female panthera tigris (Tiger) and is denoted scientifically as panthera leo x panthera tigris. ... Binomial name Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) Distribution of Lions in Africa Synonyms Felis leo (Linnaeus, 1758) The lion (Panthera leo) is a mammal of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. ...

Environment

The cave lion lived from 370,000 to 10,000 years ago, during the Pleistocene epoch. It apparently went extinct about 10,000 years ago, during the Würm glaciation, though there are some indications it may have existed as recently as 2,000 years ago, in the Balkans.^[1] It ranged across Europe and Asia, from England all the way to Siberia. Its habitat was the steppes in the north, and the semi-arid deserts in the south. The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) is part of the geologic timescale. ... A division of geologic time less than a period and greater than an age. ... The Wisconsin (in North America), Weichsel (in Scandinavia), Devensian (in the British Isles), Midlandian (in Ireland) or Würm glaciation (in the Alps) is the most recent period of the Ice Age, and ended some 10,000 Before Present (BP). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... Siberian Federal District (darker red) and the broadest definition of Siberia (red) arctic northeast Siberia Udachnaya pipe Siberia (Russian: , Sibir; Tatar: ) is a vast region of Russia constituting almost all of Northern Asia and comprising a large part of the Euro-Asian Steppe. ... A steppe in Western Kazakhstan in early spring In physical geography, a steppe (Russian: - , Ukrainian: - , Kazakh: - ), pronounced in English as , is a plain without trees (apart from those near rivers and lakes); it is similar to a prairie, although a prairie is generally considered as being dominated by tall grasses... This article is about arid terrain. ...

It is known from Paleolithic cave paintings, ivory carvings, and clay busts. These representations indicate that cave lions had protruding ears, tufted tails, faint tiger-like stripes, and that at least some males had a "ruff" or primitive mane around their neck. Other artifacts indicate that they played a role in Paleolithic religions. The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (Greek παλαιός paleos=old and λίθος lithos=stone or the Old Stone Age) was the first period in the development of human technology of the Stone Age. ... Cave, or rock, paintings are paintings painted on cave or rock walls and ceilings, usually dating to pre_historic times. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... I archaeology, an artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human culture, and often one later recovered by some archaeological endeavor. ...

They likely preyed on the large, herbivorous animals of their time, including primitive horses. Their extinction may have been related to the Holocene extinction event, which wiped out most of their megafauna prey. Cave paintings and remains found in the refuse piles of ancient camp sites indicate that they were hunted by early humans, which may have also contributed to their demise. // The original sequence of species believed to have evolved into the horse were based on fossils discovered in North America in the 1870s by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. ... The Dodo, a bird of Mauritius, became extinct during the mid-late 17th century after humans destroyed the forests where the birds made their homes and introduced animals that ate their eggs. ... The mammoth, an extinct genus of megafauna. ...

Classification

It is normally considered a subspecies of lion, with the scientific name of Panthera leo spelaea (which means "cave lion" in Latin); but it is occasionally considered a species in its own right, under the name Panthera spelaea. At least one authority, based on a comparison of skull shapes, considers the cave lion to be more closely related to the tiger, which would result in the formal name Panthera tigris spelaea (Groiss, 1996). However, recent genetic work (Burger 2004) shows that it was a close but separate relative of the modern lion. In zoology, as in other branches of biology, subspecies is the rank immediately subordinate to a species. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... It has been suggested that temporal fenestra be merged into this article or section. ... Binomial name Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758) Distribution of tigers in 1900 (red) and 1990 (green) Synonyms Felis tigris Linnaeus, 1758 Tigris striatus Severtzov, 1858 Tigris regalis pink, 1867 Tigers (Panthera tigris) are mammals of the Felidae family and one of four big cats in the Panthera genus. ...

History

The earliest lion was the European "jaguar" Panthera gombaszoegensis, which lived about 1.5 million years ago; remains have been found in both Italy and Germany. More immediate ancestors are the Panthera leo fossilis from the Olduvai Gorge in East Africa, a primitive lion with tiger characteristics, that first appeared about 500,000 years ago; and the Panthera youngi from Choukoutien, China, which lived about 350,000 years ago, and is apparently an ancestor of both the cave lion and the American lion. This article is about the continent. ... Binomial name Panthera gombaszoegensis Kretzoi, 1938 The European jaguar (Panthera gombaszoegensis) lived about 1. ... Trinomial name Panthera Leo Fossilis (Reichenau, 1906) Panthera Leo Fossilis, sometimes known as Early Middle Pleistocene primitive cave lion is an extinct feline of the Early and Middle Pleistocene. ... Olduvai Gorge, February 2006 Olduvai Gorge from space Topography of Olduvai Gorge The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge is commonly referred to as The Cradle of Mankind. ...  Eastern Africa (UN subregion)  East African Community  Central African Federation (defunct)  geographic, including above East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easternmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. ... Binomial name Panthera youngi Panthera youngi is known from Choukoutien, northeastern China, lived about 350,000 years ago, and is apparently an ancestor of both the Eurasian cave lion Panthera leo spelaea and the American lion Panthera leo atrox. ... Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site _ the Caves (taken in July 2004) Zhoukoudian or Choukoutien is a cave system near Beijing, China. ...

References

• Burger, Joachim et al. (2004): Molecular phylogeny of the extinct cave lion Panthera leo spelaea. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. Vol.30, p.841-849. PDF fulltext
• Groiss, J. Th. (1996): Der Höhlentiger Panthera tigris spelaea (Goldfuss). Neues Jahrb. Geol. Paläont. Mh. Vol.7, p.399–414.

1. ^ Wild cats of the world by C A W Guggisberg (1975) ISBN 0800883241 and Pleistocene mammals of Europe by Björn Kurtén (1968) [not seen]

See also

• Panthera leo fossilis
• Panthera leo vereshchagini
• Panthera leo atrox
• Panthera leo

Trinomial name Panthera Leo Fossilis (Reichenau, 1906) Panthera Leo Fossilis, sometimes known as Early Middle Pleistocene primitive cave lion is an extinct feline of the Early and Middle Pleistocene. ... Trinomial name Panthera leo vereshchagini (Baryshnikov & Boeskorov, 2001) Panthera leo vereshchagini, also known as the East Siberian and Beringian cave lion, was a small fossil lion that inhabited Yakutia (Russia), Alaska (USA), and the Yukon Territory (Canada). ... Trinomial name Panthera leo atrox (Leidy, 1853) The American lion, also known as the North American or American cave lion, is an extinct feline known from fossils. ... Binomial name Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) The Lion (Panthera leo) is a mammal of the family Felidae. ...

External links

Wikispecies has information related to:

Panthera leo spelaea

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Panthera leo

• Prehistoric cats and prehistoric cat-like creatures, from the Messybeast Cat Resource Archive.
• American lion, by C. R. Harrington, from Yukon Beringia Interpretative Center.
• The mammoth and the flood, volume 5, chapter 1, by Hans Krause.
• Hoyle and cavetigers, from the Dinosaur Mailing List. (Groiss)