American Lion Right Mandible Replica

Description

American Lion Right Mandible Replica for Felinology

American Lion Right Mandible Replica measures 12.0 inches. Panthera atrox mandible is museum-quality polyurethane resin cast from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Foundation, Page Museum specimen. 1:1 scale. Made in USA.

The American lion became extinct as part of the end-Pleistocene extinction event along with most other large animals across the Americas. The extinctions followed human arrival in the Americas. Proposed factors in its extinction include climatic change reducing viable habitat, as well as human hunting of herbivore prey causing a trophic cascade.

Genetic studies indicate that the living lion is the closest living relative of P. atrox and P. spelaea. Lion-like pantherines first appeared in the Tanzanian Olduvai Gorge about 1.7 to 1.2 million years ago.

These felids then dispersed into Eurasia from East Africa around the end of the Early Pleistocene and the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene, giving rise to Panthera spealea fossilis.

The oldest widely accepted fossils of P. fossilis in Europe date to around 700,000-600,000 years ago, such as that from Pakefield in England.

Scientfic Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Carnivora
• Suborder: Feliformia
• Family: Felidae
• Subfamily: Pantherinae
• Genus: Panthera
• Species: †P. atrox
• Binomial name: †Panthera atrox
• Conservation Status: Extinct

While the American lion, saber-toothed cat, dire wolf  possessed specialized carnassial molars acting as self-sharpening scissors to slice through thick hide and muscle, the Harlan’s ground sloth evolved hypselodont teeth that lacked true roots to constantly grow as the crowns wore down from an abrasive diet providing a different solution to the same problem of high-wear environments.