Neanderthals hunted cave lions

A spear mark on the 48,000-year-old skeleton of a cave lion (Panthera spelaea) is the oldest evidence of Neanderthals hunting the ice-age predators. The puncture crater on the big cat’s rib, initially thought to be a bite mark made by another animal, is probably the result of a fatal stab with a wooden spear. And Neanderthal hunters were probably after more than just meat: a set of cave-lion bones from about 190,000 years ago shows that care had been taken to preserve the cat’s paws and claws as part of the pelt.