THE PLEISTOCENE CAVE LION, PANTHERA SPELAEA (CARNIVORA, FELIDAE) FROM YAKUTIA, RUSSIA

Abstract

Analysis of skulls and mandibles of the fossil Beringian lion demonstrate that the small lion that inhabited Yakutia (Russia), Alaska (USA), and the Yukon Territory (Canada) is a new subspecies described here as Panthera spelaea ereshchagini n. subsp. It differs from the European cave lion P. spelacu (terra typica: Gailenreuth Cave, Germany, Late Pleistocene) by its smaller size and from the American lion P. nlvox (terra typica: Natchez, Mississippi, Late Pleistocene) by smaller size and by skull proportions.