IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Sommer, R.S.; Benecke, N. | |
| Late Pleistocene and Holocene development of the felid fauna (Felidae) of Europe: a review | |
| 2006 Journal of Zoology (269): 7-19 | |
In the fossil deposits of the Late Pleistocene (c. 115 000-11 500 years ago), five felid species are recorded in Europe: the wildcat _Felis silvestris_, Eurasian lynx _Lynx lynx_, Iberian lynx _Lynx pardinus_, leopard _Panthera pardus_ and cave lion _Panthera leo spelaea_. In the Holocene, Europe was colonized by _F. silvestris_, _L. lynx_ and _L. pardinus_ as well as the lion _Panthera leo_. The status of _P. pardus_ in post-glacial Europe is unknown. So far, only sparse records indicate that _P. pardus_ survived into the early Holocene. During the Late Glacial, both _L. lynx_ and _L. pardinus_ occurred on the Iberian Peninsula. However, from the Holocene, only the Iberian lynx is recorded in this region. There are subfossil records that indicate that _L. pardinus_ also occurred in central and western France until c. 3000 years ago. Surprisingly, with reservations on the determination of the bones (by J. Altuna), both lions and cave lions seem to be recorded in the Iberian Peninsula in the Late Glacial. There are published records of the lion _P. leo_ in the northern Iberian Peninsula from the early Holocene. However, its presence in Europe on the basis of subfossil records was proven initially from the Atlantic period. In Ponto-Mediterranean regions of Europe, the lion is recorded from the Atlantic to the younger sub-Atlantic. |
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