American Lion Skull, Replica

American Lion Skull. Replica. Panthera leo atrox. Pleistocene La Brea. LACM license.
Size 465mm/18.3 in. 310mm/12.2 in. 210mm/8.2inches.


The body length of the American lion is estimated to have been 1.6-2.5 m (5.25-8.20 feet).[2] Thus it was comparable in size to its close relative, the extinct lion, Panthera leo fossilis, or the modern species of Amur Tiger, but still smaller than their contemporary competitor for prey, the short-faced bear, which was the largest carnivore of their era.

South of Alaska, the American lion first appeared during the Sangamonian (the last interglacial). After that it was widespread in the Americas from Alaska to Peru, being absent only in eastern North America and peninsular Florida.[2] As did many other large mammals, it went extinct at the end of the Pleistocene, about 10,000 years ago. By then the American lion was one of the abundant Pleistocene megafauna, a wide variety of very large mammals who lived during the Pleistocene. Remains are most common in the Yukon and from the La Brea Tar Pits. Their remains are much rarer in the Tar Pits than those of the more famous, Smilodon (saber-toothed cat), however, suggesting greater intelligence at avoiding the traps [3] or that they used different hunting strategies than the Smilodon.