Which Ice Age Predators May Have Preyed on Humans as They Spread Into Europe Around 45,000 Years Ago? — Here’s What Scientists Discovered

Early humans are estimated to have entered and spread through Europe over 45,000 years ago. This era was often called the Pleistocene epoch. A geological time marked by its colder temperature. So, basically, Homo sapiens came to Europe during the ice ages. However, it’s not only the climate that they have to be worried about.

Europe was home to a lot of large herbivores like mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, and steppe Bison. But what early humans needed to be aware of the most was the large carnivores of the land, especially during this time, animal species were often bigger than they are today in the modern world. So, which of these ice age predators may have preyed on and specifically targeted our ancestors? Let’s find out!

Cave Lions (Panthera spelaea)

One of the top predators of ice age Europe, cave lions, posed a great danger to early humans who migrated from Africa. This is an animal species whose remains were seen all over Eurasia. Archaeological evidence also suggests that Neanderthals, who were living in Europe before Homo sapiens did, had cave lion bones in their sites.

These findings suggest that not only did earlier hominins interact with cave lions, but they may have been in conflict with each other due to proximity and competition for resources. Physically, cave lions were a large, strong, and powerful species that were well-adapted to survive and hunt in cold climates.

In other words, they have the physical prowess to attack humans and prey on them. They also have some characteristics that give them an advantage in darkness or certain terrains, such as their jaws, claws, and stealthy hunting strategy. So, given their size and overlaps of habitats with humans, cave lions are a top candidate for suspecting of preying on the hominin species.

Read more: Wikipedia | Phys.org

Spotted Hyenas and Ice Age Hyenas

26,000 Years Ago Europe Was Hell On Earth

Hyenas are one of the carnivorous species that are believed to have been preying on hominins for millions of years. There is specific evidence that they may have hunted earlier humans over 2 million years ago. So, it is not so crazy to think that during the ice age in Europe, they may have continued on this path.

Specifically, spotted hyenas or even other hyena species could have competed with Homo sapiens when they arrived in Europe. People often think of hyenas as much less powerful compared to bigger cats like saber-tooths and lions; however, they still have a powerful bone-crushing bite force.

Experts suggest that hyenas are capable of gnawing through hides and bones, which makes them capable scavengers. However, against a sleeping, injured, alone, young, or old human being, they may have been able to launch successful attacks, especially since their scavenging strategy would prompt them to approach a human campsite or carcasses.

In other words, they have the ability, proximity, and the means to prey on a human occasionally and at specific circumstances. This makes them one of the animals that earlier humans should have been worried about when they moved to ice age Europe.

Cave Wolves (Canis lupus spelaeus)

As much as humans now love their canines or dogs, these animals’ ancestors were not yet domesticated over 45,000 years ago. Specifically, cave wolves, which are a subspecies of wolves that existed during the ice age, are also another predator that may have threatened the survival of earlier humans.

These wolves lived during the Late Pleistocene era in Europe. They hunted in packs, but it is important to remember that even these wild wolves are larger than they are today. So, their strength in numbers was potentially much more dangerous, since each individual is likely far stronger.

Cave wolves, like hyenas, are adapted to the cold environment, and had a scavenging survival strategy too. Since they also shared habitat and competed for resources with humans in ice age Europe, they also had the proximity and the opportunity to confront or hunt an isolated human or small group, particularly at night, near the camp sites or inside the caves.

Read more: Discover Wildlife

Other Predators and Risks in Their World

The Worst Creature To Run Into During The Ice Age

Beyond cave lions, hyenas, and packs of wolves, early humans in ice age Europe faced a lot more dangerous animals. First are bears, although most species are omnivores or herbivores, brown bears or cave bears are huge territorial animals that would fight to defend their cubs and habitats.

There are also a few more species of cats that were not mentioned, like saber-toothed cats, but the popular species, Smilodon, mostly existed in the Americas, so they may have preyed on hominins, but probably not specifically on humans in ice age Europe. However, there is also Homotherium, which is like a European saber-toothed cat, that may have existed alongside Homo sapiens and possibly preyed on them.

Another would be cave leopards, which are capable of taking down bison, large deer, and horses. So, a human being accidentally venturing out of its group may be in danger from these predators. Overall, there are a lot of animals that could have preyed on humans even after the arrival of the modern human species, Homo sapiens.

Author's Final Thoughts

As humans expanded to Europe, they met a lot of challenges, which included dealing with larger and faster predatory species. They entered a very dangerous place, filled with animals that were contending to be the apex predators, such as cave lions, hyenas, and cave wolves.

Each of these carnivorous animals has their own strengths and hunting strategy, be it through their sheer power, stealth, or opportunism. The fact that they lived in the same environment as the early Homo sapiens, and may have competed with them for resources, made conflict and predation highly likely.

However, it is clear that early humans were able to survive this competition and ultimately overcome the formidable challenges of this dangerous Ice Age world. So, survival thousands of years ago did not only mean successfully hunting, but it could have also meant avoiding being hunted.

Read next: How Did Denisovans Survive for Over 200,000 Years in Harsh Ice Age Environments? — Here’s What Experts Suggest

References & Further Reading

Bocherens, H., et al. (2011). Isotopic evidence for dietary ecology of cave lion (Panthera spelaea) in North-Western Europe: Prey choice, competition and implications for extinction. Quaternary International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.02.023

Stuart, A. J., & Lister, A. M. (2011). Extinction chronology of the cave lion Panthera spelaea. Quaternary Science Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.04.023

Chernova, O. F., Kirillova, I. V., & Shapiro, B. (2016). Morphological and genetic identification and isotopic study of the hair of a cave lion (Panthera spelaea Goldfuss) from Chukotka, Russia. Quaternary Science Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.04.018

Richards, M. P., & Trinkaus, E. (2009). Isotopic evidence for the diets of European Neanderthals and early modern humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2752538/