Original paper
Two forms of cave lion: Middle Pleistocene Panthera spelaea fossilis Reichenau, 1906 and Upper Pleistocene Panthera spelaea spelaea Goldfuss, 1810 from the Bisnik Cave, Poland
Marciszak, Adrian; Stefaniak, Krzysztof
Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen Band 258 Heft 3 (2010), p. 339 - 351
published: Dec 1, 2010
DOI: 10.1127/0077-7749/2010/0117
ArtNo. ESP155025803004, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
Two forms of cave lion Panthera spelaea Goldfuss, 1810: Middle Pleistocene Panthera spelaea fossilis Reichenau, 1906 and Upper Pleistocene Panthera spelaea spelaea Goldfuss, 1810 are reported from the Bísnik Cave (Częstochowa Upland, Southern Poland). A detailed examination of tooth (particularly carnassials) and mandible morphology provides a basis to discuss the inferred size trend from the earlier, bigger P. s. fossilis to the smaller and more recent chronosubspecies P. s. spelaea. The original acquisition labels and detailed stratigraphy make it possible to place these finds within an updated stratigraphic and biochronological framework. The cave lion remains from the Bísnik Cave show that the large, primitive form fossilis was replaced by the more specialized form spelaea.
Keywords
cave lion • dentition • morphology • changes • transitional forms