Panthera fossilis

Common card · No. 233265

Panthera fossilis, also known as Panthera leo fossilis and Panthera spelaea fossilis, is an extinct species of felid belonging to the genus Panthera known from fossil remains found in Eurasia spanning the Middle Pleistocene, with possible Early Pleistocene records. Although often historically considered a subspecies of the living lion (Panthera leo), Panthera fossilis is currently considered either a distinct species that is ancestral to, or a chronosubspecies of, Panthera spelaea (with both P. fossilis and P. spelaea having the common name "cave lion"). In comparison to Late Pleistocene Panthera spelaea specimens, Panthera fossilis tends to be considerably larger, up to 400–500 kg (880–1,100 lb), considerably exceeding modern lions in size, and making them among the largest cats to have ever lived, along with the South American sabertooth Smilodon populator.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Martin Sabol, Adam Tomašových, and Juraj Gullár Copyright Society for Vertebrate Paleontology, CC BY 4.0