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Panthera spelaea
Extinct species of lion / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Panthera spelaea, commonly known as the cave lion (or less commonly as the steppe lion) is an extinct Panthera species native to Eurasia and northwest North America during the Pleistocene epoch. Genetic analysis of ancient DNA has revealed that while closely related, it was a distinct species genetically isolated from the modern lion (Panthera leo),[1] with the genetic divergence between the two species estimated at around 500,000 years ago.[2] The earliest fossils of the P. spelaea lineage (either regarded as the separate species Panthera fossilis or the subspecies P. spelaea fossilis) in Eurasia date to around 700,000 years ago (with possible late Early Pleistocene records).[3] It is closely related and probably ancestral to the American lion (Panthera atrox).[2] The species ranged from Western Europe to eastern Beringia in North America, and was a prominent member of the mammoth steppe fauna, and an important apex predator across its range. It became extinct about 13,000 years ago.[4] It closely resembled living lions with a coat of yellowish-grey fur, though unlike living lions males appear to have lacked manes.
Panthera spelaea | |
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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 interacted with both Neanderthals and modern humans, who used their pelts and in the case of the latter, depicted them in artistic works.