Cave lion: Isotopes and dietary paleoecology

The dietary preferences of Late Pleistocene cave lions in the mammoth steppe have been investigated using carbon and nitrogen isotopes of bone collagen. This study based on a review of published data and newly measured ones covers a wide area from Western Europe to Alaska and shows that reindeer was...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hervé Bocherens, Irina V. Kirillova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-03-01
Series:Earth History and Biodiversity
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950475924000157
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849344245974958080
author Hervé Bocherens
Irina V. Kirillova
author_facet Hervé Bocherens
Irina V. Kirillova
author_sort Hervé Bocherens
collection DOAJ
description The dietary preferences of Late Pleistocene cave lions in the mammoth steppe have been investigated using carbon and nitrogen isotopes of bone collagen. This study based on a review of published data and newly measured ones covers a wide area from Western Europe to Alaska and shows that reindeer was a preferred prey for most analyzed specimens, with some individuals in Western Europe and possibly in Urals showing a preference for cave bears as prey. The scattering of the isotopic data suggests a solitary way of life for cave lions, and competition with other predators such as cave hyena and brown bear, maybe less marked in Eastern Siberia where hyena was absent.
format Article
id doaj-art-1fda9371d0ae40e08cb6c99e9ff0962c
institution Kabale University
issn 2950-4759
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Earth History and Biodiversity
spelling doaj-art-1fda9371d0ae40e08cb6c99e9ff0962c2025-08-20T03:42:43ZengElsevierEarth History and Biodiversity2950-47592025-03-01310001510.1016/j.hisbio.2024.100015Cave lion: Isotopes and dietary paleoecologyHervé Bocherens0Irina V. Kirillova1Department of Geosciences, Biogeology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Tübingen, Germany; Correspondence to: University of Tübingen, Department of Geosciences, Hölderlinstrasse 12, Tübingen 72074, Germany.Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, RussiaThe dietary preferences of Late Pleistocene cave lions in the mammoth steppe have been investigated using carbon and nitrogen isotopes of bone collagen. This study based on a review of published data and newly measured ones covers a wide area from Western Europe to Alaska and shows that reindeer was a preferred prey for most analyzed specimens, with some individuals in Western Europe and possibly in Urals showing a preference for cave bears as prey. The scattering of the isotopic data suggests a solitary way of life for cave lions, and competition with other predators such as cave hyena and brown bear, maybe less marked in Eastern Siberia where hyena was absent.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950475924000157Panthera spelaeaCarbon isotopesNitrogen isotopesPaleodietPaleoecology
spellingShingle Hervé Bocherens
Irina V. Kirillova
Cave lion: Isotopes and dietary paleoecology
Earth History and Biodiversity
Panthera spelaea
Carbon isotopes
Nitrogen isotopes
Paleodiet
Paleoecology
title Cave lion: Isotopes and dietary paleoecology
title_full Cave lion: Isotopes and dietary paleoecology
title_fullStr Cave lion: Isotopes and dietary paleoecology
title_full_unstemmed Cave lion: Isotopes and dietary paleoecology
title_short Cave lion: Isotopes and dietary paleoecology
title_sort cave lion isotopes and dietary paleoecology
topic Panthera spelaea
Carbon isotopes
Nitrogen isotopes
Paleodiet
Paleoecology
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950475924000157
work_keys_str_mv AT hervebocherens cavelionisotopesanddietarypaleoecology
AT irinavkirillova cavelionisotopesanddietarypaleoecology