Research overview: linked fates of cave bears and cave lions

This overview examines the possible ecological connection between the cave lion and the cave bear, two emblematic Ice Age mammals whose extinctions both fall in the latest Pleistocene. Isotopic and contextual evidence suggests that cave lions sometimes preyed on cave bears, perhaps targeting cubs or hibernating individuals in their dens, raising the possibility that the decline of cave bears removed an important seasonal food source for the lions. The survey reviews the evidence for this predator-prey relationship, how the timing of the two species' extinctions compares, and what their linked histories reveal about the interdependence of Ice Age species. It discusses the broader theme that the loss of one megafaunal species can cascade to its predators, and how cave bears and cave lions illustrate such coupled extinctions.