TY - JOUR
T1 - The preliminary analysis of cave lion cubs panthera spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810) from the permafrost of siberia
AU - Boeskorov, Gennady G.
AU - Plotnikov, Valery V.
AU - Protopopov, Albert V.
AU - Baryshnikov, Gennady F.
AU - Fosse, Philippe
AU - Dalén, Love
AU - Stanton, David W.G.
AU - Pavlov, Innokenty S.
AU - Suzuki, Naoki
AU - Tikhonov, Alexey N.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was conducted within the frameworks of the next scientific programs: the project on Funding: government assignment of the Diamond and Precious Metals Geology Institute, SB RAS No. 0381-2019-0002 (G.G.B.); the Federal theme of the Laboratory of Theriology ZIN RAS No. AAAA-A19-119032590102-7 ‘Phylogeny, morphology and systematics of placental mammals’ (G.F.B., A.N.T.). The study of G.G.B. was also supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation No. 21-17-00054, https://rscf.ru/project/21-17-00054/ (accessed on 3 November 2020). The study of A.V.P. was supported by a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 18-45-140007 р_a). D.W.G.S. received funding for this project from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement (grant nr. 796877). L.D. acknowledges funding from FOR-MAS (grant nr. 2018–01640).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - A preliminary description is presented of the well-preserved frozen mummies of two cubs of the extinct cave lion Panthera spelaea (finds of 2017–2018, Semyuelyakh River, Yakutia, eastern Siberia, Russia). The fossil lion cubs were found in close proximity, but they do not belong to the same litter, since their radiocarbon ages differ: the female (named ‘Sparta’) was dated to 27,962 ± 109 uncal years BP, and the male (named ‘Boris’) was dated to 43,448 ± 389 uncal years BP. The lion cubs have similar individual ages, 1–2 months. The general tone of the colour of the fur coat of Sparta is greyish to light brown, whereas, in Boris, the fur is generally lighter, greyish yellowish. It is, therefore, possible that light colouration prevailed with age in cave lions and was adaptive for northern snow-covered landscapes. The article discusses the results of computed tomography of cubs of the cave lion, the possible reasons for their death, and the peculiarities of their existence in the Siberian Arctic.
AB - A preliminary description is presented of the well-preserved frozen mummies of two cubs of the extinct cave lion Panthera spelaea (finds of 2017–2018, Semyuelyakh River, Yakutia, eastern Siberia, Russia). The fossil lion cubs were found in close proximity, but they do not belong to the same litter, since their radiocarbon ages differ: the female (named ‘Sparta’) was dated to 27,962 ± 109 uncal years BP, and the male (named ‘Boris’) was dated to 43,448 ± 389 uncal years BP. The lion cubs have similar individual ages, 1–2 months. The general tone of the colour of the fur coat of Sparta is greyish to light brown, whereas, in Boris, the fur is generally lighter, greyish yellowish. It is, therefore, possible that light colouration prevailed with age in cave lions and was adaptive for northern snow-covered landscapes. The article discusses the results of computed tomography of cubs of the cave lion, the possible reasons for their death, and the peculiarities of their existence in the Siberian Arctic.
KW - Cave lion
KW - Cubs
KW - Morphological description
KW - Panthera spelaea
KW - Radiocarbon dating
KW - Siberia
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85113811998&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/QUAT4030024
DO - 10.3390/QUAT4030024
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85113811998
SN - 2571-550X
VL - 4
JO - Quaternary
JF - Quaternary
IS - 3
M1 - 24
ER -