Environment
The cave lion received its common name because large quantities of its remains are found in caves, but it is doubtful whether they lived in them (one theory being that lion bones may have been collected there ex post facto by packrats that are obsessive hoarders of bright objects, even useless ones). It had a wide habitat tolerance, but probably preferred conifer forests and grasslands, where medium-sized to large herbivores occurred. Fossil footprints of lions, which were found together with those of reindeer, demonstrate the lions once occurred even in subpolar climates. The presence of fully articulated adult cave lion skeletons, deep in cave bear dens, indicates these lions may have occasionally entered dens to prey on hibernating cave bears, with some dying in the attempt.
These active carnivores probably preyed upon the large herbivorous animals of their time, including horses, deer, reindeer, bison and even injured old or young mammoths. Some paintings of them in caves show several hunting together, which suggests the hunting strategy of contemporary lionesses. Isotopic analyses of bone collagen samples extracted from fossils suggest reindeer and cave bear cubs were prominent in the diets of northwestern European cave lions. There was a suggestion of a shift in dietary preferences subsequent to the disappearance of the cave hyena. The last cave lions seem to have focused on reindeer, up to the brink of local extinction or extirpation of both species.
Small prey was usually brought down with a blow of the front paw and then held down with both front feet. The animal was finally killed by a powerful bite from the sharp teeth, at the back of the neck, in the region of the throat and even in the chest. A cave lion usually could not run as fast as its prey, but could pounce on it from behind or run up next to it and bring it down with the paws. In this manner a running animal's balance could very easily be disturbed.
It was most likely the most common large predator (after the cave hyena) in plains ecosystems. Its extinction may have been related to the Quaternary extinction event, which wiped out most of the megafauna prey in those regions. Cave paintings and remains found in the refuse piles of ancient camp sites indicate they were hunted by early humans, which also may have contributed to their demise.
Read more about this topic: Panthera Leo Spelaea
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