Bone fragments of fossil spelaea lions indicate that they were bigger than the modern lion and had less specialized lower teeth, reduced lower
premolars and smaller
incisors.[5]
As indicated by numerous artistic depictions, modern lions in the
Balkans had less developed
manes, and lacked abdominal and lateral manes as well as limb hair. Οn the other hand, lions from
Transcaucasia exhibited all these features.[7]
The earliest Holocene lion remains to date were excavated in
Basque Country, Spain, and are about 11,600–9,000 years old,[22] although the dating is only context-dated and therefore regarded as not too accurate. Moreover, there are doubts if this was a modern lion or a late surviving P. spelaea cave lion. Other early Holocene lion finds, come from different places of Italy and are dated to 12,000-9,000 years old.[23]
A
neolithic lion tooth fragment representing the
Atlantic Period was found in
Karanovo,
Bulgaria, and is estimated 6,000 years old.[17]
In
Greece, lions first appeared around 6,500–6,000 years ago as indicated by a front leg bone found in
Philippi.[2] Bone fragments of the modern lion were excavated in
Hungary and in
Ukraine's
Black Sea region, which are estimated at around 5,500 to 3,000 years old.[24] Remains were also found in
Romania and
European Turkey.[11]
In
Transcaucasia, the lion was present until the 10th century. The peak of its historic range covered all of the plains and foothills of eastern Transcaucasia, westward almost to
Tbilisi in modern
Georgia. Northwards, its range extended through the eastern
Caucasus, from the
Apsheron Peninsula to the mouth of the
Samur River near the current
Azerbaijan-Russia border, extending to the
Araks river. From there, the boundary of its range narrowly turned east to
Yerevan in modern
Armenia, with its northern boundary then extending westward to Turkey.[7]
Lions feature in ancient
Greek mythology and writings, including the
myth of the
Nemean lion, which was believed to be a supernatural lion that occupied the sacred town of
Nemea in the
Peloponnese.[30]Homer mentioned lions 45 times in his poems, but this could have been due to his experience in
Asia Minor.[9]
Phalaecus, a tyrant of
Amvrakia (modern-day
Arta), was allegedly killed by a female lion due to his holding a newborn lion cub, after finding it on a hunting expedition.[31]Conon refers to the myth of how
Olynthus city got its name, when during around the period of the
Trojan War, son of Strymon,
Olynthos during a lion hunt was killed by a lion.[32] According to
Herodotus lions occurred between
Achelous river and
Nestus, being plentiful between
Akanthos and
Thermi. When
Xerxes advanced near
Echedorus in 480 BC, the troops'
camels were attacked by lions.[27]Xenophon stated around 400 BCE that lions were hunted around
Mount Kissos,
Pangaio, the
Pindus mountains and elsewhere.[14]Aristotle in the 4th century BCE provided some data on lion distribution, behaviour, breeding and also anatomy. According to him, lions were more numerous in North Africa than in Europe; they had approached towns, and attacked people only if they were old, or had poor dental health.[13]Pliny the Elder mentions that European lions were stronger compared to those from
Syria and
Africa.[33] In the 2nd century CE,
Pausanias referred to lion presence east of
Nestus in
Thrace, in the area of
Abdera. He also referred to a story about Polydamas of Skotoussa, an Olympic winner in the 5th century BCE, who allegedly used his bare hands to kill a lion on Thessalian part of Mount Olympus; and to one about
Caranus of Macedon who according to the Macedonians, raised a trophy that was thrown down and destroyed by a lion that was rushing down from Mount Olympus.[15]
^Diedrich, C.G. (2011). "The largest European lion Panthera leo spelaea (Goldfuss 1810) population from the Zoolithen Cave, Germany: specialised cave bear predators of Europe". Historical Biology. 23 (2–3): 271–311.
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10.1080/08912963.2010.546529.
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^
abcdeBartosiewicz, L. (2009). "A Lion's share of attention: Archaeozoology and the historical record". Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 60 (1): 759–773.
doi:
10.1556/AArch.59.2008.2.28.
^Reichenau, W. V. (1906). "Beiträge zur näheren Kenntnis der Carnivoren aus den Sanden von Mauer und Mosbach". Abhandlungen der Großherzoglichen Hessischen Geologischen Landesanstalt zu Darmstadt. 4 (2): 125.
^Pocock, R. I. (1939).
"Panthera leo". The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia. – Volume 1. London: Taylor and Francis Ltd. pp. 212–222.
^
abcHeptner, V. G.; Sludskiy, A. A. (1992) [1972].
"Lion". Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola [Mammals of the Soviet Union, Volume II, Part 2]. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation. pp. 83–95.
ISBN978-90-04-08876-4.
^
abcAlden, M. (2005). "Lions in paradise: Lion similes in the Iliad and the Lion Cubs of IL. 18.318-22". The Classical Quarterly (55): 335–342.
doi:
10.1093/cq/bmi035.
^
abSchnitzler, A. E. (2011). Past and present distribution of the North African-Asian lion subgroup: a review. Mammal Review 41: 220−243.
^Thomas, N.R. (2004). "The Early Mycenaean Lion up to Date". Hesperia Supplements (33): 161−206. {{
cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (
help).
^
abThomas, N.R. (2014). Touchais, G.; Laffineur, R.; Rougemeont, F. (eds.). "A lion's eye view of the Greek Bronze Age". Aegaeum. Annales Liégeoises et PASPiennes d'Archéologie égéenne (37): 375−92.
^Beloe, W. (1830).
"Book VII. Polymnia". Herodotus translated from the Greek. London: Jones and Co. pp. 321−380.
^
abΑριστοτέλης, 4th century BCE: Των περί τα ζώα ιστοριών.
^
abcUhm, D.P. van (2016). The Illegal Wildlife Trade: Inside the World of Poachers, Smugglers and Traders. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
^
abBökönyi, S. (1989). "Erster vorläufiger Bericht über Tierknochenfunde der Karanovo-V-Besiedlung in Drama". Berichte der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission (70): 123–127.
^Altuna, J. (1986). "The mammalian faunas from the prehistoric site of La Riera". In Straus, L.G.; Clark, G. (eds.). La Riera Cave, Stone Age Hunter Gatherer Adaptations in Northern Spain. Arizona: Arizona State University Press. pp. 237–47.
^Sommer, R. S.; Benecke, N. (2006). "Late Pleistocene and Holocene development of the felid fauna (Felidae) of Europe: A review". Journal of Zoology. 269 (1): 7–19.
doi:
10.1111/j.1469-7998.2005.00040.x.
^
abAlden, M. (2005). "Lions in paradise: Lion Similes in the Iliad and the Lion Cubs of IL. 18.318-22". The Classical Quarterly (55): 335–342.
doi:
10.1093/cq/bmi035.
^Schnitzler, A.E. (2011). "Past and present distribution of the North African-Asian lion subgroup: a review". Mammal Review. 41 (3): 220–243.
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10.1111/j.1365-2907.2010.00181.x.