The distribution of the cave lion Panthera spelaea and the cave hyena Crocuta spelaea in the Late Pleistocene of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia

Malikov D.G., Burova V.V., Klementiev A.M., Malikova E.L.

P. 83-94

An analysis of the geographical distribution of the cave lion (Panthera spelaea) and the cave hyena (Crocuta spelaea) finds in Baikal-Yenisei Siberia has shown that these species were predominantly confined to different landscapes. The cave lion tended to inhabit plains and river valleys, whereas the cave hyena inhabited foothill areas. The cave hyenas were especially abundant at the beginning of Karginian interstadial (MIS 3) and persisted up to Karginian–Sartanian boundary (MIS 3–MIS 2). The cave lion had a broader chronological distribution during the second half of the Late Pleistocene. Panthera spelaea persisted in the region almost until the terminal Pleistocene, and its demise was apparently associated with extinction of the largest representatives of the mammoth fauna.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.23.1.09