iv ANCIENT CAVE LIONS 83 



Dawkins to present absolutely no osteological or 

 dental character by which they can be distinguished 

 from those of existing lions, and I think that we 

 are therefore justified in believing that the lion was 

 first evolved in a cold climate, and that in the 

 course of ages it gradually spread south and east, 

 following the migrations of the game on which it 

 preyed. It probably entered Africa before that 

 continent was separated from Europe by the 

 Mediterranean Sea, at the same time as the 

 ancestors of the giraffes, antelopes, buffaloes, 

 elephants, and rhinoceroses of to-day, and accom- 

 panied them through Eastern Africa right down to 

 Cape Agulhas. Some lions remained in Europe 

 long after the separation of Africa from that 

 continent, and even in the time of Herodotus these 

 animals appear to have been still common through- 

 out South-Eastern Europe. 



As the ancient cave lions which roamed the 

 woods and plains of Western Europe co-existed 

 with bears, mammoths, reindeer, elk, wild cattle, 

 and other denizens of a cold country, there can be 

 little doubt that their coats were thick and furry in 

 both sexes, whilst a heavy mane would have been 

 an adornment to the males without being an en- 

 cumbrance. 



That the flowing mane and shaggy hair on the 

 belly of the male lion were first evolved in a cold 

 climate is, I think, proved by the undoubted fact 

 that there is an inherited tendency in all lions to 

 grow a mane, which is crippled and dwarfed by a 

 hot climate but encouraged by exposure to cold. 

 Quite recently there was a fine lion in the Zoological 

 Society's Gardens at Regent's Park which was 

 presented by Messrs. Grogan and Sharpe. This 

 animal was caught near the Pungwe river, in South- 

 East Africa, and brought to England by these 

 gentlemen when quite a small cub. When full- 



