Cave lions. Ancient animals. African cave lions were as tall as a man
Before humans climbed to the top of the food chain, wild cats were the most powerful and successful hunters. Even today, these huge predators evoke fear and at the same time admiration in a person who is not their competitor in the hunt. And yet, prehistoric cats were much better in all respects, especially when it comes to hunting. Today's article presents the 10 largest prehistoric felines.
The prehistoric cheetah belongs to the same genus as today's cheetahs. His appearance was very similar to the appearance of a modern cheetah, but its ancestor was many times larger. The giant cheetah was more reminiscent of a modern lion in size, because its weight sometimes reached 150 kilograms, so the cheetah easily hunted larger animals. According to some data, ancient cheetahs were capable of accelerating at speeds of up to 115 kilometers per hour. A wild cat lived on the territory modern Europe and Asia, but could not survive the Ice Age.
This dangerous animal does not exist today, but there was a time when xenosmilus, along with other predatory cats, headed the planet's food chain. Outwardly he very much resembled saber tooth tiger, however, unlike it, xenosmilus had much shorter teeth, which were similar to the teeth of a shark or predatory dinosaur. The formidable predator hunted from ambush, after which it instantly killed the prey, tearing off pieces of meat from it. Xenosmilus was very large, sometimes its weight reached 230 kilograms. Little is known about the habitat of the beast. The only place where his remains were found was Florida.
Currently, jaguars are not particularly large in size; as a rule, their weight is only 55-100 kilograms. As it turned out, they were not always like this. In the distant past, the modern territory of Southern and North America filled with giant jaguars. Unlike the modern jaguar, they had longer tails and limbs, and their size was several times larger. According to scientists, the animals lived on open plains together with lions and some other wild cats, and as a result of constant competition they were forced to change their place of residence to more wooded areas. The size of a giant jaguar was equal to a modern tiger.
If giant jaguars belonged to the same genus as modern ones, then European jaguars belonged to a completely different one. Unfortunately, today it is still not known what the European jaguar looked like, but some information about it is still known. For example, scientists claim that the weight of this cat was more than 200 kilograms, and its habitat was countries such as Germany, England, the Netherlands, France and Spain.
This lion is considered a subspecies of lion. Cave lions were incredibly large in size, and their weight reached 300 kilograms. Terrible predators lived in Europe after the Ice Age, where they were considered one of the most dangerous creatures planets. Some sources say that these animals were sacred animals, so they were worshiped by many peoples, and perhaps they were simply feared. Scientists have repeatedly found various figurines and drawings depicting a cave lion. It is known that cave lions did not have a mane.
One of the most terrible and dangerous representatives wild cats of prehistoric times are homotherium. The predator lived in the countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, South and North America. The animal adapted so well to the tundra climate that it could live for more than 5 million years. The appearance of Homotherium was noticeably different from the appearance of all wild cats. The forelimbs of this giant were much longer than the hind limbs, which made him look like a hyena. This structure suggests that Homotherium was not a very good jumper, especially unlike modern cats. Although Homotherium cannot be called the most, its weight reached a record 400 kilograms. This suggests that the beast was even larger modern tiger.
The appearance of a mahairod is similar to that of a tiger, but it is much larger, with more long tail and huge fang-knives. Whether he had the stripes characteristic of a tiger is still not known. The remains of the mahairod were found in Africa, which indicates its place of residence; in addition, archaeologists are convinced that this wild cat was one of the largest of those times. The weight of the mahairod reached half a ton, and in size it resembled a modern horse. The predator's diet consisted of rhinoceroses, elephants and other large herbivores. According to most scholars, the appearance of the mahairod is most accurately depicted in the film 10,000 BC.
Of all known to mankind wild cats of prehistoric times, the American lion is second in popularity after Smilodon. Lions lived on the territory of modern Northern and South America, and became extinct about 11 thousand years ago at the very end of the Ice Age. Many scientists are convinced that this giant predator was related to today's lion. The weight of an American lion could reach 500 kilograms. There is a lot of controversy about its hunting, but most likely the animal hunted alone.
The most mysterious animal on the entire list was in second place among the largest cats. This tiger is not a separate species most likely he is distant relative modern tiger. These giants lived in Asia, where they hunted very large herbivores. Everyone knows that today tigers are the largest representatives of the cat family, but today there are no tigers as large as in prehistoric times. The Pleistocene tiger was unusually large sizes, and according to the found remains, he even lived in Russia.
Most famous representative cat family of prehistoric times. Smilodon had huge teeth like sharp knives and a muscular body with short legs. His body slightly resembled that of modern bear, though he didn’t have the clumsiness that a bear has. The amazingly built body of the predator allowed him to run with high speed even over long distances. Smilodon died out about 10 thousand years ago, which means they lived at the same time as humans, and perhaps even hunted them. Scientists believe that Smilodon attacked prey from an ambush.
During excavations in northern Kenya, an international group of scientists discovered the remains of a lion that lived in Africa more than 200 thousand years ago during the Pleistocene era. The study revealed that the animal was much larger than its long-extinct and living African relatives. Dedicated work published in the Journal of Paleontology.
African cave lions were as tall as a man
American and Kenyan experts measured the size of the skull and teeth of a lion that lived in Kenya more than 200 thousand years ago. It turned out that the animal was several times larger than its African relatives and reached the size of Pleistocene lions from America, Europe and Siberia. Scientists believe that this subspecies was previously unknown to science.
“This skull is the first evidence that in the middle and late Pleistocene in eastern Africa there were giant lions, whose size may have been due to the greater mass of megafauna (a set of animal species whose body weight exceeds 40-45 kg), the authors of the work say . - The skull is remarkable for its large size, equal to the parameters of the largest cave lion skull in Eurasia and much larger than the known skulls from Africa,” they conclude.
Cave lions
Note that Pleistocene lions living in the north, namely in America, Europe and Eastern Siberia, were very different from lions from Africa and South-East Asia. In particular, they were 1.5 times larger than their southern relatives.
The Mosbach lion, living in Eurasia, is considered the largest cat known to science today. By the way, it reached a length of 3.7 m and weighed 400-430 kg. The American lion was not much smaller than the Mosbach lion: the length of its body including its tail reached 3.7 m, and it weighed about 400 kg. East Siberian lionweighed 180-270 kg and reached a length of 2.40 m without a tail.
Of all times. Previously, its status was not entirely clear, but today it is considered a clearly distinguishable subspecies of modern lions. It was first described by the German physician and naturalist Georg August Goldfus, who found the skull of a cave lion in the Franconian Alb.
In Soviet paleontology, on the initiative of Nikolai Vereshchagin, the cave lion was called tigrolev.
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Spreading
In Europe, the first lions appeared about 700,000 years ago and belonged to the subspecies Panthera leo fossilis, the so-called Mosbach lion. The fact that it is sometimes also called the cave lion can be misleading. As a rule, the term cave lion refers to a later subspecies Panthera leo spelaea. Mosbach lions reached a length of up to 2.4 m excluding the tail and were half a meter larger than modern lions. They were the size of a liger. From this large subspecies came the cave lion, which appeared about 300,000 years ago. It was distributed throughout northern Eurasia and even during the glaciations penetrated deep to the north. In the northeast of Eurasia, a separate subspecies has formed, the so-called East Siberian cave lion ( Panthera leo vereshchagini), which reached the American continent through the then existing land connection between Chukotka and Alaska. Spreading south, it evolved into the American lion ( Panthera leo atrox). The East Siberian cave lion became extinct at the end of the last major glaciation about 10 thousand years ago. The European cave lion probably became extinct during the same period, but it is possible that it persisted for some time on the Balkan Peninsula. Regarding the lions that existed on it until the beginning of our era, it is unknown whether they were cave lions.
Appearance
The skeleton of an adult male cave lion, found in 1985 near Siegsdorf, Germany, had a height at the withers of 1.20 m and a length of 2.1 m excluding the tail. This corresponds to a very large modern lion. At the same time, the Siegsdorf lion was inferior to many of its relatives. Cave lions were on average 5-10% larger than modern lions, but did not reach the enormous size of Mosbach lions and American Lions. Rock paintings from the Stone Age allow us to draw some conclusions about the coloring of the fur and mane of the cave lion. Particularly impressive images of lions were found in southern France in the Chauvet cave in the Ardèche department, as well as in the Vogelherdhöhle cave in the Swabian Alb. Ancient drawings cave lions They are always shown without a mane, which suggests that, unlike their African or Indian relatives, they either did not have one, or it was not so impressive. Often this image shows the characteristic tuft on the tail of lions. The coloring of the fur, apparently, was one color.
Lifestyle
Relatives
Unlike the Mosbach lion, regarding the classification of which as Panthera leo fossilis There has always been unanimity among scientists; there has been a long debate about the cave lion, whether it is a lion, a tiger, or even whether it should be distinguished as a separate species. In 2004 ( P.l. vereshchagini) and American lion ( P.l. atrox). All modern subspecies of lions belong to the group Leo. Both groups separated about 600 thousand years ago. Some fossil specimens of the extinct American lion were larger than the Mosbach lion and were thus among the most major representatives felines that have ever existed. They were previously considered a separate species, called the giant jaguar. According to the latest research The American lion, like the cave lion, was not a separate species, but a subspecies of lions (
Sometimes they ask: “Which of the large predatory animals lived in Ice Age in Europe and Northern Asia? And many people don’t believe it when you answer: “Lion.”
Found at the mouth of the river. Yana femur one large predator became very interested in I.D. Chersky in 1891. Despite some doubts and logical incompatibilities, he concluded that in the age of the mammoth tigers lived near him in Yakutia. Since then, a lot of water has flown under the bridge, and a lot of paleontological discoveries have been collected.
In 1971, Professor N.K. Vereshchagin in the book “Materials of the anthropogenic fauna in the USSR”, based on a study of lion bones found in the territory Soviet Union, as well as paleontological materials from North America, published a large article. This work used data on exhibits - lion bones found in different time in Yakutia (they are stored at the Moscow Zoological Institute). So our story about lions will mainly be based on the materials of N.K. Vereshchagin.
Single lion bones have been discovered in more than ten places in the northern and central regions Yakutia. In 1930, M.M. Ermolaev on Bolshoi Lyakhovsky Island, and in 1963, geologist F.F. Ilyin on the Mohoho River, a tributary of the Olenka, found the skulls of lions that lived during the Ice Age. The parietal and other lion bones found at Duvanny Yar in Kolyma are in the museum of the Yaroslavl Scientific Center of the Academy of Sciences of Russia. In addition, the bones of the king of beasts, the mighty lion, were found at the mouth of the Syuryuktyakh - a tributary of the Indigirka, on the Berezovka - a tributary of the Kolyma, the Adycha - a tributary of the Yana, as well as in the basins of the river. Aldan and Vilyui. Some rare finds are available in regional museums. The lower jaw of a lion that lived more than ten thousand years ago is exhibited in the Ytyk-Kyuel Museum of the Tattinsky district.
So, according to reliable scientific data, in the Ice Age in Yakutia, along with such giants as the mammoth and rhinoceros, there lived not a tiger, as was sometimes written, but a lion. In reference books and scientific literature he is called not just a lion, but a cave lion. Actually lions Ice Age in Yakutia they did not live in caves. They must have been hunting wild horses, bulls and deer on ice-free plains and mountain foothills. A fierce and powerful predator, about whom we're talking about, paleontologists call not only the cave lion, but sometimes also the tiger lion or Pleistocene lion. However, he looked most like a lion.
This predator first appeared in central steppes Europe and Asia just before the start Quaternary period. Having multiplied greatly at the height of the Ice Age, at the very end of the Late Pleistocene, they, like mammoths, became extinct for some reason. Pleistocene lions were not the direct ancestors of the lions now found in Africa. During the late Pleistocene they spread throughout Northeast Asia and North America. As evidenced by fossil bones, very large cave lions were found in North America. Modern African lions reach a maximum length of 2.2 m, while the lions of Eurasia of the Ice Age reach 2.5-3.4 m. And the predators of North America that became extinct tens of thousands of years ago had a length of up to 2.7-4.0 m!
When in northern latitudes Eurasia and North America entered the Ice Age, these large animals Sometimes they were forced to take refuge from snowy winds and cold in mountain caves. And they began to encounter Stone Age people who lived there, who left many drawings of lions on the walls of their homes. As archaeologists and geologists write, such “portraits” of lions were found in caves in France, Spain, England, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and in the USSR - near Odessa, Tiraspol, Kiev, the Urals, and the Perm region.
Sometimes sculptures of lions made of bone, stone and clay are also found. Stone Age people, fearing these formidable predators, worshiped them so as not to be torn to pieces during hunting and in fights in caves. Experts confirm that the bones of some lions, especially the interorbitals, have pathological changes and defects associated with diseases. It can be seen that they were susceptible to bone diseases, suffered from gadflies or similar tsetse flies, which infect livestock in our time.
Only two almost completely preserved cave lion skeletons are known throughout the world. One of them is considered the most valuable exhibit of the Brno Museum in Czechoslovakia. The second skeleton was found in the USA in oil that thickened like tar and then hardened. When you look at a photograph of the skeleton, the greatly elongated legs and tail of the cave lion catch your eye. Rib cage narrow, neck rather long. Judging by the skeleton, the animal had very strong forelimbs. On the lower and upper jaws there are powerful sharp fangs similar to the head of a keel.
Currently, the world's lion populations are very small. At the end of the 60s, there were 250 predators in Indian zoos, national parks African states - about 150 thousand...
Sometimes they ask about bears from the times of the mammoth and cave lion. In 1966 in Poland, during marble mining in Sudeten Mountains discovered a previously unknown mountain cave with branches of several floors. Scientists suggest that it was formed about 50 million years ago as a result of the leaching of limestones groundwater, circulating through the cracks of these water-soluble rocks. In this cave during the Ice Age they found shelter and wild animals, and the people of that time. During the exploration of the cave, about 40 thousand different bear bones were found.* Therefore, they called it “Bear Cave”. Along with the remains of so many bears were found rare bones of wolves and martens. Stone Age people lived in one of the recesses of the cave. When more than half of Europe found itself under the cover glacier, bears, wolves, and lions were apparently forced to take refuge in caves. The emaciated, disease-prone animals died in large numbers. This is how the animal cemetery came into being. However, scientists have not yet given a precise explanation for the unusual accumulation of bear bones.
“Bear Cave” is very long, with branches of hundreds of meters. They, sometimes narrowing, sometimes widening, form underground halls reminiscent of fairy-tale palaces. When you illuminate the dark halls, it’s as if you find yourself in the country of Olonkho, and a charming picture of an unknown underground kingdom opens before you. The ceiling is decorated with hanging crystal-like icicles. Below is a labyrinth sparkling with various sparks of light, graceful growths of limestone formations! In some places they converge with stepped shafts of the same color and shine, similar to streams frozen in a rapid run. Everything beautiful in nature is the property of all humanity. That is why the Bear Cave was included in the tourist route, and construction work began here in 1980.
There are no such large caves in Yakutia, but individual bones of a bear, wolf, elk and other mammoth companions are found. By the way, on the famous Berelekh cemetery at one time the corpse of a wolverine was discovered.
Many questions arise about the fact that during the Ice Age, the inhabitants of the harsh North were relatives of miniature but fleet-footed roe deer. Residents of Yakutia are well aware of these graceful animals, which move in such smooth and wide jumps, as if you see them in slow motion.
One of the species of roe deer, named Sorgelia in honor of the German geologist who was the first to find the skull of an ancient goat in the world, lived in Yakutia next to mammoths during the Ice Age. The Sorgelia skull was found in 1973 on the Adycha River (a tributary of the Yana) by local history teacher M.A. Sleptsov. This is the second such trophy after the discovery of the German geologist. As a rare exhibit, it is now kept in the Central Moscow Zoological Museum, and a plaster copy of the skull is on display in the Adychansky School Museum...
When you talk about the Ice Age, the giants of that time, listeners usually ask a lot of questions. These are mostly questions related to the most recent geological history Earth called quaternary. In just a million years, significant climate fluctuations have occurred Northern Hemisphere Earth, great changes in the animal and plant kingdoms. The world suffered particularly significant damage large mammals. In Yakutia and throughout northern Asia and Europe, mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, lions, wild bulls, Sorgelia. Most of the surviving animals decreased significantly in size. Modern horses, moose, polar bears, in comparison with their ancient relatives of the Ice Age, are smaller species.
Once upon a time, ancient animals lived on our land. Cave lion- one of them. He became the ancestor of modern lions. We will tell you what a cave lion was like in those distant times in our article.
In ancient times, our planet was inhabited by amazing animals. Some of them are not at all similar to modern inhabitants of the Earth. But scientists believe that all modern animals descended from those same fossil ancestors. Today, thanks computer technologies, we can easily see what the ancestors of modern animals looked like, although only ancient people saw them with their own eyes, leaving memory of these animals only in rock paintings.
The cave lion is one of these ancient animals. He is an ancient representative of the cat family, the order of carnivores and belonged to the genus panther. Scientists around the world have the opportunity to study this representative of the ancient fauna only from the remains of bones that are discovered during excavations.
How did scientists “get to know” the cave lion?
On the territory of the current Russian region, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in 1891, a scientist named Chersky found the femur of some large beast of prey. At that time, the scientist concluded that the fossil remains belonged to a representative of ancient tigers. After this discovery on long years the ancient “tigers” were forgotten...
Until, almost a hundred years later, Nikolai Vereshchagin made a statement that these bones belong to the descendants of lions, not tigers. A little later, he wrote the book “The Cave Lion and Its History in the Holarctic and within the USSR,” in which he described all his finds and research results.
Appearance of an ancient animal - a cave lion
Having modeled the skeleton of the animal from the remains, scientists determined that the height of the cave lion was about 120 centimeters at the withers, body length - 240 centimeters (excluding tail length). Cave paintings show that the mane of these ancient felines was not very impressive. Hair like modern ones African lions, cave lions could not boast. The wool was monochromatic. The tail was decorated with a small tassel.
Where and when did cave lions live?
The appearance of this species of mammal is attributed to a period of about 300 thousand years ago. At that time, on the territory of modern Europe, the cave lion first emerged as an independent subspecies. This ancient animal inhabited the entire area of the northern part of the Eurasian continent. Its habitat was modern Chukotka and Alaska, as well as the Balkan Peninsula.
Archaeological excavations have allowed scientists to prove the habitation of lions in the territory of modern countries, such as England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria. The territory of the former Soviet republics (USSR) was also inhabited by these ancient animals. Rock paintings were found near Odessa and Kyiv.
Cave lion lifestyle
Cave lions lived in prides, just like theirs. Although this lion is called a cave lion, in fact, it was rarely found in caves. This shelter was primarily intended for wounded or dying individuals who needed privacy. That is why so many remains are now found in caves.
What did the ancestors of modern lions eat?
The main food for these predators were large ungulates of that period: antelope, deer, wild bulls and horses. Sometimes their prey was small bear cubs or giants