Panthera fossilis

Panthera fossilis; Temporal range:
	Skull from Azé, France
	Life restoration
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Felidae
Subfamily:	Pantherinae
Genus:	Panthera
Species:	†P. fossilis
Binomial name
	†Panthera fossilis; (Reichenau, 1906)
Synonyms
	Panthera leo fossilis; Panthera spelaea fossilis;

Panthera fossilis (also known as Panthera leo fossilis or Panthera spelaea fossilis), is an extinct species of cat belonging to the genus Panthera, known from remains found in Eurasia spanning the Middle Pleistocene and possibly into the Early Pleistocene.

Although often historically considered a subspecies of the living lion (Panthera leo) Panthera fossilis is currently either considered to be ancestral to^[1] or a subspecies of Panthera spelaea (commonly known as the cave lion or steppe lion).^[2] In comparison to Late Pleistocene Panthera spelaea specimens, Panthera fossilis tends to be considerably larger,^[2] up to 400 kilograms (880 lb), exceeding modern lions in size.^[3]

^ Sabo, Martin; Tomašových, Adam; Gullár, Juraj (August 2022). "Geographic and temporal variability in Pleistocene lion-like felids: Implications for their evolution and taxonomy". Palaeontologia Electronica. 25 (2): 1–27. doi:10.26879/1175. ISSN 1094-8074. S2CID 251855356.
^ ^a ^b Marciszak, Adrian; Ivanoff, Dmitry V.; Semenov, Yuriy A.; Talamo, Sahra; Ridush, Bogdan; Stupak, Alina; Yanish, Yevheniia; Kovalchuk, Oleksandr (March 2023). "The Quaternary lions of Ukraine and a trend of decreasing size in Panthera spelaea". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 30 (1): 109–135. doi:10.1007/s10914-022-09635-3. ISSN 1064-7554.
^ Persico, Davide (June 2021). "First fossil record of cave lion (Panthera (Leo) spelaea intermedia) from alluvial deposits of the Po River in northern Italy". Quaternary International. 586: 14–23. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2021.02.029.

[:0-1] Sabo, Martin; Tomašových, Adam; Gullár, Juraj (August 2022). "Geographic and temporal variability in Pleistocene lion-like felids: Implications for their evolution and taxonomy". Palaeontologia Electronica. 25 (2): 1–27. doi:10.26879/1175. ISSN 1094-8074. S2CID 251855356.

[:1-2] Marciszak, Adrian; Ivanoff, Dmitry V.; Semenov, Yuriy A.; Talamo, Sahra; Ridush, Bogdan; Stupak, Alina; Yanish, Yevheniia; Kovalchuk, Oleksandr (March 2023). "The Quaternary lions of Ukraine and a trend of decreasing size in Panthera spelaea". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 30 (1): 109–135. doi:10.1007/s10914-022-09635-3. ISSN 1064-7554.

[:2-3] Persico, Davide (June 2021). "First fossil record of cave lion (Panthera (Leo) spelaea intermedia) from alluvial deposits of the Po River in northern Italy". Quaternary International. 586: 14–23. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2021.02.029.

[1]

[2]

[3]