Data from: Gigantic lion, (Panthera leo), from the Pleistocene of Natodomeri, eastern Africa

The partial skull of a lion from Natodomeri, northwest Kenya is described. The Natodomeri sites are correlated with Member I of the Kibish Formation, dated to between 195 ka and ∼205 ka. The skull is remarkable for its very great size, equivalent to the largest cave lions (<i>Panthera spelaea</i>) of Pleistocene Eurasia and much larger than any previously known lion from Africa, living or fossil. We hypothesize that this individual represents a previously unknown population or subspecies of lion present in the late Middle and Late Pleistocene of eastern Africa rather than being an indication of climate-driven size increase in lions of that time. This raises questions regarding the extent of our understanding of the pattern and causes of lion evolution in the Late Pleistocene.

本文记述了一件产自肯尼亚西北部纳托多莫里（Natodomeri）遗址的狮子部分头骨化石。纳托多莫里遗址可对应基比什组（Kibish Formation）第一段，其年代距今19.5万至约20.5万年。该头骨以其硕大的体型而引人注目：其体型可与更新世欧亚大陆最大的洞狮（*Panthera spelaea*）相媲美，且远大于此前已知的所有非洲现生或化石狮子。我们推测，该个体代表了东非中更新世晚期至晚更新世时期一个此前未被发现的狮子种群或亚种，而非当时狮子体型因气候驱动增大的佐证。这一发现引发了相关疑问：我们对于晚更新世狮子演化模式及其驱动因素的认知，究竟达到了何种程度。