Panthera spelaea (Cave lion)

Сave lion (Panthera spelaea Goldfuss, 1810)

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Time period: late Pleistocene of Eurasia (340 000 – 12 000 years ago)

Size: 2.2 m in length, 120 cm in height, 160-350 kg of weight.

The cave lion (Panthera (Leo) Spelaea) was one of the biggest cats of all ages. Reaching 120 cm at the withers, with the length of 210 cm without the tail, it averaged 5-10% higher than today's lions, but did not reach an enormous size similar to the American lion. Today, this type of lion is regarded as a subspecies which clearly distinguishes modern lions. It distributed across northern Eurasia, and even during the glacial periods, it penetrated deeply to the north. In the north-east of Eurasia formed a separate subspecies, the so-called East Siberian cave lion (Panthera spelaea vereshchagini), which existed across the Bering land bridge then reached the American continent, where it developed into the American lion (Panthera atrox). Probably the cave lion, and like today's lions, it was a social cat, living in prides..The cave lion is known from Paleolithic cave paintings, ivory carvings, and clay figurines.