The cave lion that survived a severe fracture 190,000 years ago
The analysis of a fossil humerus preserved in the Geology Collection “Museo Giovanni Capellini” of the University of Bologna documents one of the oldest known cases of healing from a severe fracture in cave lions. The study, led by the University of Padua, provides rare insights into the lives and survival strategies of the great predators of the Pleistocene
The study of a fossil humerus belonging to a cave lion that lived between 160,000 and 190,000 years ago has made it possible to reveal traces of a severe fracture that healed completely. The results of the research, published in the journal Quaternary International, document one of the oldest known cases of survival following a displaced fracture in this species and offer new information on the biology and behaviour of the great felines of the Pleistocene.
The specimen, found in the Kanegra cave in Slovenia, had become part of the Geology Collection “Museo Giovanni Capellini” of the University Museum Network of the University of Bologna during the Second World War, but had never before been studied in such detail.
For the study, the humerus underwent computed tomography (CT) at the Anatomy Centre of the University of Bologna, under the scientific supervision of Stefano Ratti. The morphological and pathological analyses were conducted by Giulio Vara and Elisa Lodolo.
The scans made it possible to observe the inside of the fracture, highlighting how the spongy bone tissue had completely reorganised and remodelled to preserve the function of the muscles of the forelimb. The fracture healed, but the bone remained partially misaligned: it became shorter than that of a healthy animal, while the part connected to the shoulder muscle developed enormously to compensate for the break. According to the researchers, the lion faced very difficult conditions to survive after the injury.
“This work demonstrates the scientific value that museum heritage can still offer to contemporary research, above all thanks to the modern analysis techniques that we now have at our disposal,” explains Michela Contessi, Curator of the Geology Collection “Museo Giovanni Capellini”.
Together with Federico Fanti and Jo de Waele, both Professors in the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences - BiGeA of the University of Bologna, the researchers promoted and coordinated the detailed analysis of the material, which was dated in the laboratories of National Taiwan University.
“When I saw that lion humerus and the severe fracture, I was stunned with excitement because I immediately realised that it was an exceptional specimen,” says Elena Ghezzo, a researcher at the Department of Geosciences at the University of Padua and first author of the study. “We have very few bone remains of cave lions with evident pathologies, and much of the previous research has focused on comparing the few known examples, mostly from caves in Germany. Signs of trauma are even less frequent, and certainly do not compare to the specimen we studied.”
For the researchers, specimens like this represent a rare opportunity to understand aspects of the behaviour of extinct animals that are difficult to reconstruct. The study also highlights the importance of comparisons with present-day African lions, the only felids to exhibit complex social behaviour, for interpreting the fossil evidence. When and how this behaviour evolved in lions is still being investigated.