Volume 117, 1 June 2015, Pages 135–151
On the discovery of a cave lion from the Malyi Anyui River (Chukotka, Russia)
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Highlights
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- The study of a cave lion skeleton (incomplete) from West Chukotka is presented.
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- The find included skin derivatives – cornified claw sheath and possibly hair.
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- Comparison is done with finds from Russia, Western Europe and North America.
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- Stable isotopes are analyzed together with other species of mammoth fauna complex.
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- Results of radiocarbon dating of bones and skin derivatives are shown and discussed.
Abstract
An
incomplete postcranial skeleton (67 elements) of a cave lion, a lower
jaw and a bundle of fine yellowish hair were found by a local resident
in 2008 and 2009 washed out from the perennially frozen Pleistocene
sediments in the lower reaches of the Malyi Anyui River (western
Chukotka). This is the first skeleton of a cave lion (Panthera spelaea
Goldfuss) to be found in Russia. The bone sizes are similar to finds of
cave lion bones known from N–E Russia, but larger than East Beringian
and smaller than West European ones. The remains have been studied using
a variety of methods, including morphology, morphometry,
SEM-examination, AMS-dating, and isotopic study, which included
examination of over 100 samples of various members of the mammoth faunal
assemblage (mammoth, wooly rhinoceros, bison, horse, bear, etc.). The
results showed that the northeastern Asian cave lion hunted mainly bison
and horses, but not reindeer, unlike its Western Europe counterpart.
Bone and claw sheath dating showed an unexpectedly old geochronological
age of over 61,000 years (OZQ290, OZQ291), while the hair was dated
28,690 ± 130 (OZQ292), which makes its affinity with the same individual
as the skeleton questionable. Further studies to investigate possible
unremoved contamination and obtain more reliable date are planned.
Keywords
- Cave lion;
- Skeleton;
- Chukotka;
- Diet
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