Early humans mostly hunted to survive. During those times forming large communities was not the norm, and humans simply foraged for whatever could be found. Cave lion extinction might have come because early humans killed them all.
Humans during the Upper Paleolithic era hunted many animals, and that included the Eurasian cave lion. It is believed that this is the largest lion that ever lived. The Eurasian cave lion disappeared more than 14,000 years ago and most paleontologists are still wondering how they became extinct.
The study on how the Eurasian cave lions became extinct was made by Marian Cueto of the Universidad de Cantabria in Spain. In his study, it was found that while Upper Paleolithic men hunted carnivores of different sizes, there was still sparse evidence of cave lion hunting, according to Science Daily. Cueto set out to find out if that was the case.
Cueto first studied nine fossilized cave lion toe bones. These had been taken from a cave in La Garma, in northern Spain. The bones taken showed signs of humans modifying them as tools. This was done using stone tools, News Wise reports. Through this, the researchers concluded that the toe bones came from one cave lion. The lion might have been used as some symbol for early humans.
It is also believed that the cave lion was used for its pelt. Early humans used animal skins and fur as a way to keep warm, and the cave lion likely served that purpose. The toe bones found are not yet definitive proof that early humans overhunted cave lions, though.
There would still be more research needed if cave lion extinction has happened because early humans killed them all. So far what though what could be seen from the cave finding was that they were at least used as part of early man's ritual. Early on a report shows that parrot fossils found in Siberia hinted of a subtropical climate there.
