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:
“If the sea were ink
For the words of my Lord,
the sea would be spent before the Words of my Lord are spent.”
—Qur’An. The Cave 18:109, ed. Arthur J. Arberry (1955)
“A work in progress quickly becomes feral. It reverts to a wild state overnight. It is barely domesticated, a mustang on which you one day fastened a halter, but which now you cannot catch. It is a lion you cage in your study. As the work grows, it gets harder to control; it is a lion growing in strength. You must visit it every day and reassert your mastery over it. If you skip a day, you are, quite rightly, afraid to open the door to its room.”
—Annie Dillard (b. 1945)