Re: [tied] Pre-historic Lions and another extinct beasts

Many lion experts derive all modern (and extinct North and South American) lions from the giant Upper Pleistocene lions of West and Central Europe, while tigers have a more-or-less continuous fossil record beginning in northcentral and northeastern China; sub-recent fossil remains definitely identified as tigers come from the Caucasus, and a small population (now probably extinct) lingered on in southeastern Turkey until very recently. Individual stragglers from Transcaucasia may have penetrated the North Pontic area well into historical times. Both lions and tigers derive from spotted ancestors and early woodland lions probably had spotted or faintly striped coats, as suggested by Pleistocene rock art (lion cubs still have spots).

Most of the other fauna you mention did not make it into post-Pleistocene times, or if they did (as mammoths did for a few millennia) it was in remote places like Wrangel Island, where few if any humans ever saw them. I would not expect to find any linguistic or mythological memories of Pleistocene magafauna in historically attested languages. Sivatheres, however, apparently survived in N Africa and SW Asia long enough to be represented in Saharan rock art and Sumerian figurines (ca. 3000 BC), so they could find their way into ancient bestiaries as well.

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: João S. Lopes Filho

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 12:00 AM

Subject: [tied] Pre-historic Lions and another extinct beasts

The pre-historic range of lion included Eurasia , Africa and North America (La Brea lion, Panthera leo atrox). In Europe and Asia there was the cave big cat , whose identity is dubious, it was usually considered to be a lion (Panthera leo spelaea), but there's a modern trend to consider it as a tiger (Panthera tigris spelaea). There's osteological traits and paintings in caves showin stripes.

There were another pre-historic extinct beasts that can be a interesting subject to linguistic and mythic studies: mammooths, Sivatherium ( extinct moose-like relatives of giraffids - it seems that Western Asia people knew them, perhaps the origin of Biblic Re'em), cave lions, cave hyenas, giant deers, cave bears, Gigantopithecus, wooly rhinoceroses, African sabertooths, etc)