Chapter 469: The Origin of the Cave Lion
Generally speaking, male lions just guard their own territory. As long as there are no other lions on their territory, they don't care. If they see other lions on their territory, of course they will attack.
Sark seemed to feel that there was something unusual about this place, and felt that it smelled some special smell, but it was only moving in its own territory and did not move outside the boundaries of the territory, so Sark did not find Chu Ye and the others. .
"Gene Era"
Sark moved around for a while and was ready to leave.
However, at this moment, Rita came over with several lionesses. When it saw Sark, it roared at it several times.
Chu Ye couldn't understand what this lioness meant now, but he felt that this lioness must be telling the Cossack that there were three foreign lions moving here just now, and they don't know where they are going now. place.
After Sak heard the roar of the lioness, he searched the place again, and then walked towards the camp with Rita. Obviously, they couldn't find Chu Ye and the others, and they felt that Chu Ye and the others had run far away.
In fact, Chu Ye, Fatty and Feifei were hiding in a bush not far away. They could clearly see Sak and the others, but they couldn't see Chu Ye and the others.
When Sak and the lionesses left, the fat man looked at Chu Ye in confusion and asked, "The lion king just now looked very tall, not like the lions on our prairie!" How could there be such a lion here? '
The fat man was a little confused about Sak's image. After all, he felt that Sak's image was not like an ordinary lion, but like a new type of lion.
After hearing what Fatty said, Chu Ye thought for a moment and said, 'This lion king is not a new species, it is a type of lion called cave lion. '
When the fat man heard this, he asked strangely, "Boss, what are you talking about? This lion king is a type of cave lion. So what exactly is a cave lion?" '
Feifei didn't know much about this lion king. He also looked at Chu Ye curiously, wanting to hear what he said about cave lions.
'It seems that you don't know much about this species. Let me explain it to you. 'Chu Ye still knows something about this matter. So, he started to tell Fatty about cave lions.
Cave Lion: Also known as the European cave lion, it is an extinct cat. It was stronger than modern lions, with thick limbs, an average length of 2.7 meters, a tail length of 1.2 meters, and a weight of 250 kilograms. The latest research shows that cave lions are not the ancestors of lions, but are closely related to them.
Between 300,000 and 100,000 years ago, cave lions' footprints were all over the grasslands, deserts, and semi-desert areas in northern and central Eurasia. 500,000 years ago, fossil lions were widely distributed in the east and south of the African continent. Fossil records show that some of them began to "leave Africa" and evolved independently.
The members that entered northeastern Asia evolved into Yang's tiger, while the fossil lions that entered Europe adapted to the mountains and relatively cold climate as well as the composition of prey, further increased in size, and evolved into a new subspecies, the cave lion.
The adaptability of cave lions is so strong that between 300,000 and 100,000 years ago, cave lions spread their footprints throughout the grasslands, tundra, deserts and semi-desert areas of northern and central Europe. However, it is clear that they are not well adapted to dense forests or deeper snowfields.
Cave lion fossils are distributed as far west as the British Isles in Europe and as far east as Siberia. Their main prey may be various types of horses, camels, bison and mammoth calves on the grassland. Perhaps tracking these highly migratory prey, one of them passed through the Bering Land Bridge during the Ice Age and entered the unfamiliar world. of the North American continent.
The wider wilderness forced them to evolve long limbs to facilitate faster running, so another miracle - the American lion subspecies appeared. These New World lions were slender and about 25% larger than modern African lions. The average male weight could reach 235 kilograms, but a few fossils show that the largest ones were almost as big as the largest cave lions.
Their canine teeth are also very developed, and the length of the upper canine teeth often exceeds 10 centimeters, which is almost as good as that of various saber-toothed tigers. At the same time, the fossil lions left in Africa gradually evolved into modern African lions.
Chu Ye also learned a little bit about the cave lion. When it told the fat man what it knew, the fat man said curiously, "Boss, this species of cave lion is already extinct. How come there is still such a species now?" '
Chu Ye thought for a moment and said, 'I can't understand this matter either. Maybe it has something to do with climate change! The climate in Africa has changed abnormally this year. It has still not rained. The weather is abnormal, and some abnormal species are bound to appear. '
'But this cave lion is an extinct species, how could it appear on the African savannah? 'The fat man still looked at Chu Ye in confusion and asked.
'To say that the cave lion species has become extinct is unlikely to reappear. The cave lion we see now is obviously not a prehistoric animal. It should be a mutation of a modern lion. '
Chu Ye was certain that the cave lion living here could not be a prehistoric species, but could only be the mutation of a modern lion.
After hearing what Chu Ye said, the fat man smiled and said, "Haha, so this cave lion is a fake product." '
At this time, Feifei also smiled and said, "Boss, obviously this cave lion is not a real cave lion, so we don't need to be afraid of it." '
Chu Ye said seriously, "You can't say that. Although this cave lion is not a real cave lion, it is an atavistic cave lion. It can also be said that it is a real cave lion." '
When the fat man heard this, he was surprised and said, "Boss, how can you say this? Do animals also return to their ancestors?" '
'Of course, no matter what species it is, there will be atavism, and lions are certainly no exception. Chu Ye said again.
'Boss, how are you sure that this cave lion is an atavistic cave lion and not some mutated cave lion? 'The fat man looked at Chu Ye again and asked.
'Because the appearance of this cave lion is exactly the same as that of prehistoric cave lions. This situation is an atavism. If it were a mutation, it might be different. Chu Ye looked at the fat man again and expressed his opinion.
After hearing this, the fat man felt that it made sense. After all, judging from the appearance of this cave lion, it was exactly the same as a prehistoric cave lion.
