Cave Lion

Cave lions are three extinct subspecies of large carnivorous land mammals in the species Panthera leo, (the lions), in the genus Panthera and a member of the family Felidae.

The subspecies known by this name include:

  • Panthera leo spelaea or P. spelaea, the Eurasian or European cave lion
  • Panthera leo fossilis or P. spelaea fossilis or P. fossilis, the Early Middle Pleistocene European cave lion
  • Panthera leo atrox or P. atrox, the American lion or American cave lion

Famous quotes containing the words cave and/or lion:

    “What difference is there, do you think, between those in Plato’s cave who can only marvel at the shadows and images of various objects, provided they are content and don’t know what they miss, and the philosopher who has emerged from the cave and sees the real things?”
    —Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)

    “Enough if the work has seemed,
    So did she your strength renew,
    A dream that a lion had dreamed
    Till the wilderness cried aloud.”
    —William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)