Another Predator Found in the Tavrida Cave

11:34, February 10, 2022

The Isuar lynx was added to the list of mammals of the Early Pleistocene

A team of paleontologists from Moscow, Ekaterinburg, and Simferopol discovered a new predator in the Tavrida Cave. Scientists added the Isuar Lynx (Lynx issiodorensis) to the list of mammals of the Early Pleistocene of the Crimea. The remains of two individuals of this species - part of the skull of a relatively young small specimen and almost complete lower jaw of a large old specimen - they described in the journal of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In addition, the bones of several other adult lynxes were found in the cave.

"The old specimen has traces of trauma and disease on its lower jaw and teeth. One of the pre-rooted teeth was broken during life - the pit of its anterior root had time to overgrow, the right predatory tooth is chipped, and the remaining teeth show traces of significant wear. In the area of the predatory teeth, the surface of the jaw shows signs of pathological degradation, probably associated with periodontitis," paleontologists explain.

At the beginning of the Pleistocene, the Isuar Lynx was a typical representative of the fauna of Western Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. It is named after the town of Isuar in France, where remains of this species were first discovered. In size, the Isuar Lynx was similar to the modern large specimens of Lynx Lynx. Compared to the common lynx Lynx lynx, it had a heavier build, a large head, an elongated neck and relatively short limbs. It was somewhat more like a large cat like a leopard or puma than modern lynxes.

The specimens of Lynx issiodorensis from the Tavrida cave are typical representatives of this species - both in size and in proportions and details of the structure of the skull, lower jaw, and teeth. The finding of the Isuar Lynx in the Crimea confirms the previously determined age of the bony layer of the Tavrida Cave (1.8-1.5 million years) and forms a link between the eastern and western parts of the range of this species in the Early Pleistocene.

The study involved researchers from the Borisyak Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Ecology and Plants of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Ural Federal University and the Crimean Federal University.

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