LIONS IN AMERICA

Though now confined to Africa and small populations in Asia, lions were once more abundant world wide. In the Pleistocene, lions were found in Europe and North America. North American lions ranged as far south as Peru, and were larger than modern African lions. They have often been assigned the taxon Panthera atrox. North American lions probably hunted deer, now extinct horses (which also once ranged naturally in North America) and even bison. Hunting large prey such as bison may not have been as much of a challenge for North American lions based on their larger size.