What is "cave lion"

Cave \Cave\ (k[=a]v), n. [F. cave, L. cavus hollow, whence cavea cavity. Cf. Cage.]

1. A hollow place in the earth, either natural or artificial; a subterraneous cavity; a cavern; a den.

2. Any hollow place, or part; a cavity. [Obs.] ``The cave of the ear.''
   --Bacon.

3. (Eng. Politics) A coalition or group of seceders from a political party, as from the Liberal party in England in 1866. See Adullam, Cave of, in the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.

   Cave bear (Zo["o]l.), a very large fossil bear ( Ursus spel[ae]us) similar to the grizzly bear, but large; common in European caves.

   Cave dweller, a savage of prehistoric times whose dwelling place was a cave.
   --Tylor.

   Cave hyena (Zo["o]l.), a fossil hyena found abundanty in British caves, now usually regarded as a large variety of the living African spotted hyena.

   Cave lion (Zo["o]l.), a fossil lion found in the caves of Europe, believed to be a large variety of the African lion.

   Bone cave. See under Bone.

n. ''Panthera leo spelaea'', an extinct subspecies of lion known from fossils and multiple examples of prehistoric art.

Cave lions are large extinct carnivorous felids that are classified either as subspecies of the lion (Panthera leo) or as distinct but closely related species, depending on the authority.

The subspecies or species known by this name include:

• Panthera leo spelaea or P. spelaea, the Eurasian or European cave lion
• Panthera leo fossilis or P. spelaea fossilis or P. fossilis, the Early Middle Pleistocene European cave lion
• Panthera leo atrox or P. atrox, the American lion or American cave lion