Comments on: Mystery of The Royal Lions

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:47:26 +0000

Interesting link, Loren…

DAVE2LARGE:

Interesting observation!!!

By: dave2large

dave2large — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:26:19 +0000

If the scientists at Stonehenge can tell where a person was born and raised by the chemicals fixed in their teeth , might not the same technique be used to tell where these lions were born?

By: Sordes

Sordes — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:13:13 +0000

It is nearly impossible that any prehistoric cave lions survived in England in historical times. As a result of being an island, and due to the loss of nearly its complete forests, many big animals died out comparably early at Great Britain, even so adaptable animals like wild boars.
But it was even at early mediaevil times comparably common to find importet lions and other exotic beasts in the menageries of kings and other rulers. Even elephants found their way at amazingly early centuries to european menageries.

By: Richard888

Richard888 — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:20:20 +0000

“Aristotle and Herodotus wrote that lions were found in the Balkans in the middle of the first millennium B.C. When Xerxes advanced through Macedonia in 480 B.C., several of his baggage camels were killed by lions. Lions are believed to have died out within the borders of present-day Greece in A.D. 80-100.”

Sigh…

By: sschaper

sschaper — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:57:28 +0000

If there were cave lions roaming England in the medieval period, after the tower was built, I think that there would be literary references. I’m not aware of any.

That they were from the Royal Menagerie is most likely; they were there, trading with the Moors was not utterly impossible, though relations would not have been easy, especially at a time when the peoples of Spain were trying to throw off the Muslim yoke.

By: greatanarch

greatanarch — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:11:42 +0000

Xerxes’ army seem to have been unlucky with their felines. After the defeat at Mycale the Persian survivors were harassed by tigers, which apparently still survived there in the 18th century.

By: squatch-toba

squatch-toba — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:47:22 +0000

I wonder if these lions may have died in captivity and just disposed of in the moat where the skulls were found? There may have been captive “critters” in the moat to dispose of the remains. A very interesting story…hope to hear more on this.

By: noobfun

noobfun — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:40:10 +0000

well tin mined in cornwall(south west England) was traded with the carthagenian empire(Egypt) back before rome became a super power

so the historical trading links of England and northern Africa are well established for minerals and other goods so why not animals

By: Sordes

Sordes — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:12:03 +0000

The cave lions were not very closely related to the barbary lions. Among all subspecies of Panthera leo the north african form showed the most impressive developement of a mane, in contrast to this the european cave lions had in general no mane at all, and only very few males had at least a small mane, comparable to those of subspecies like the somali lion, so there was not really much resemblance between barbary lions and Panthera leo spelaea.
BTW, here´s a photo a made of a stuffed Barbary lion at the NHM of Vienna (compared to a Somali lion):
http://bestiarium.kryptozoologie.net/artikel/die-mahne-des-hohlenlowen/
And here a photo I made some years ago at the Rosenstein-Museum at Stuttgart which shows a pair of the last remaining stuffed Cape lions:
http://www.cryptozoology.com/gallery/content776/103874012.jpg

By: Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:24:21 +0000

Sir shumway, you have not been paying attention!

The great maned American Lion of the Pleistocene is Panthera atrox.