Scientists discovered that jaguars and leopards lived in Poland

Dr Adrian Marciszak Paleozoology from the Department of Palaeozoology, University of Wrocław told PAP that the discovery of traces of leopard and jaguar presence in Kraków-Częstochowa Upland proved that the fauna and flora on Polish soil had been richer than previously thought.

"Belief lingered that this area was a white spot because of the climate. Meanwhile, there is evidence of rich in the area north of the Carpathians. Jaguar could arrive here around 2 million years ago from Africa and Asia. Leopards and Pleistocene lions lived later, around 600,000 years ago" - added Marciszak.

The scientist emphasised that the jaguar weighed approximately 150-200 kg and resembled animals currently living in Central and South America. According to the palaeozoologist, the appearance of the Pleistocene lion, predator weighing about 350-500 kg, contributed to the extinction of the jaguar.

"Trails of Pleistocene lions had been found earlier, but the discovery of the remains of a jaguar and leopard required confirmation and comparison of the collected archaeological material with exhibits in other museums. Now we are confident that both predators also lived here" - said Marciszak.

Archaeological excavations in the cave Biśnik are carried out since 1991 under the supervision of Prof. Krzysztof Cyrek of the Institute of Archaeology, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.

The excavations provided extremely rich archaeological and palaeontological material documenting the history of man in the changing nature in the last 350-300 thousand years.

Analysis of the remains carried out by the employees of the Department of Palaeozoology, University of Wrocław (Dr. Adrian Marciszak , Dr. Paweł Socha, Dr. Krzysztof Stefaniak, previously also Prof. Teresa Wiszniowska) allowed to identify over 100 species of mammals.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

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