Pleistocene felidae (Mammalia, Carnivora) from the Kudaro Paleolithic sites in the Caucasus

Abstract

The Kudaro Paleolithic site complex in Southern Ossetia includes five species of felids: Panthera onca gombaszoegensis, P. spelaea, P. pardus, Felis silvestris and possibly Lynx lynx. The fossil jaguar P. onca gombaszoegensis was identified from the lowest stratigraphic level of the Middle Pleistocene (Likhvian = Holsteinian Interglacial). Remains of P. pardus and Felis silvestris were recovered from all layers. Panthera spelaea and Lynx lynx represent northern migrants appeared there at the end of the Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene respectively.