…They Were a Unique Species.
"A genetic analysis of ice age cave lions shows this species to be distinct from modern lions, ending a long-standing mystery. What's more, the new evidence suggests these fearsome creatures diverged into two distinct lineages.
During the Pleistocene, lions lived across much of the Northern Hemisphere, including in Siberia. The northernmost of these beasts, dubbed "cave lions," lived far outside the conventional geographic range of lions today. Paleontologists have questioned the origin of cave lions for years, wondering if they were modern lions that ventured way up north or if they represented an entirely different species.
A new paper in Scientific Reports appears to have settled this debate. By analyzing and comparing dozens of gene sequences and sketching an evolutionary family tree of these ancient felines, scientists from the Centre for Palaeogenetics at Stockholm University have shown that lions and cave lions were distinct species. What's more, the cave lions branched off into two subtly different lineages, having split into a group that lived in Siberia and a group that lived further west in Europe, according to the new research, co-authored by evolutionary geneticist Love Dalén…"
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