Savage Kings of the Ice Age
Ice Age North America harbored a pantheon of terrifying creatures. Alongside dire wolves, short-faced bears, and saber-toothed cats, an apex predator stalked the savannas and grasslands of the continent: American Lions – Panthera Atrox.
Larger than modern African lions by about 25%, males could reach over 800 pounds. These megacarnivores hunted the largest prey in the hemisphere, including bison, horses, pronghorn, and maybe even small mammoths. With powerful jaws capable of almost 2,000 pounds per square inch of force, they crushed the life out of their victims. Atrox means “cruel”, “savage” or “merciless” in Latin; an apt moniker.
Panthera Atrox ranged over almost all the middle part of North America during the late Pleistocene era, first appearing in the record around 200,000 years ago. Their bones have been discovered from Canada to Mexico in the areas of the continent not covered by boreal forests. These hunters were ancient Lords of the Plains.
Just a glimpse of an American Lion skull imparts a history of violence and death. Crafted for stalking and killing, these Lion Kings ruled over their grassy domain as the dominant predator. Likely more intelligent than some of the other terrors of the age, such as saber-toothed cats, and larger than every other North American felid, Atrox paints a spine-chilling picture.
Replica of an American Lion skull found at the La Brea Tar Pits, copyright Bone Clones, www.boneclones.com, used with permission.
For context, the dimensions of this skull are about a foot and a half long by a foot wide.
Though widely distributed, Panthera Atrox fossils are rare compared to other predators of the age. This may, in fact, be evidence of their dominance, as top predators require larger, more distributed, territories. Many Pleistocene fossils also come from places like the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, and some researchers propose the low number of lions trapped there relative to other predators is another indicator of greater cunning.
Most incredible of all, these American Lions were still around when humans entered the continent. They did not go extinct until around 10,000 years ago, meaning people lived alongside these killers. Some scientists even believe humans, the greatest apex predator that has ever walked the Earth, were responsible for their demise, along with many of the other megafauna of North America.
American Lions once ruled over these Plains. Their calls still carry low over the windswept expanses; shadows of the monsters built to hunt this land.
