The Quaternary lions of Ukraine and a trend of decreasing size in Panthera spelaea

Abstract

The fossil record of the cave lion, Panthera spelaea, suggests a gradual decrease in body size, the process peaking just before the extinction of the species at the end of the Late Pleistocene. Such an evolutionary trend appears rather unusual for a large felid species and requires further investigation. This study reviews the cave lions of Ukraine, whose fossils are known from 46 localities dated from 800 kyr to 18–17 kyr ago, with a special emphasis on size changes through time. We describe several important finds including those of Panthera spelaea fossilis from Sambir, Panthera spelaea ssp. from Bilykh Stin Cave and Panthera spelaea spelaea from Kryshtaleva Cave. We make subspecific identifications of specimens from the region and focus on their size characteristics. Our analysis of Ukrainian cave lions agrees with the temporal trend of decreasing size, particularly accelerating during MIS 2, as exemplified by the extremely small female skull from Kryshtaleva Cave. We provide a direct AMS date for this specimen (22.0–21.5 cal kyr BP), which suggests that the Kryshtaleva lioness must have belonged to a Panthera spelaea spelaea population forced south by the spreading ice sheet. We discuss some palaeoecological aspects of the evolutionary history and eventual extinction of the cave lion. Finally, we review the subfossil records of the extant lion Panthera leo known from several Ukrainian sites archaeologically dated to 6.4–2.0 kyr BP. These finds most probably represent the Persian lion Panthera leo persica.

Early occurrence of lion (Panthera spelaea) at the Middle Pleistocene Acheulean site of Notarchirico (MIS 16, Italy)

“…Pleistocene lions (or lion‐like felids) form a group close to the extant Panthera leo , but they had already diverged from it in the Early Pleistocene, being assigned to distinct species ( Panthera fossilis and Panthera spelaea ) or subspecies of the cave lion Panthera spelaea (the latter approach is followed herein), based mainly on craniodental metrics and morphology (Argant and Brugal, 2017; Prat‐Vericat et al, 2022; Sabol et al, 2022; Marciszak et al, 2023). Although the lion dispersal is often considered to be an important bioevent within the Galerian faunal turnover (Palombo et al, 2008), the species is poorly documented during the early Middle Pleistocene (Prat‐Vericat et al, 2022).…”

Late Pleistocene and Holocene pikas (Mammalia, Lagomorpha) from Europe and the validity of Ochotona spelaea: New insights based on mtDNA analysis

“…Such studies also help track their migration routes in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and Holocene (e.g., Campos et al, 2010;Baca et al, 2012;Lagerholm et al, 2014;Doan et al, 2018). Data from palaeogenetic and phylogeographic studies allow for a deeper and more accurate taxonomic identification of Pleistocene mammals, which have so far been analysed using only morphological approaches (Niedziałkowska, 2017;Rekovets and Kovalchuk, 2017;Baca et al, 2019Baca et al, , 2020Kovalchuk et al, 2021;Stefaniak et al, 2021Stefaniak et al, , 2022Doan et al, 2022;Marciszak et al, 2022;Plis et al, 2022;Ratajczak-Skrzatek et al, 2022 and many others).…”