cave lynx

{{Short description|Extinct subspecies of carnivore}}

{{Subspeciesbox

| fossil_range =

| image = Lynx spelaea Cueva de los Moros.JPG

| image_caption = Jaw bone fossil

| genus = Lynx

| species = pardinus

| species_link = Iberian lynx

| subspecies = spelaeus

| authority = Boule, 1910

| extinct = yes

}}

The cave lynx or Mediterranean cave lynx (Lynx spelaeus or Lynx pardinus spelaeus) is an extinct felid species that lived during the Pleistocene. It is controversially discussed to be a subspecies of the modern Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) and to be a junior synonym of this species.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.05.015 |title=Latest Early Pleistocene remains of Lynx pardinus (Carnivora, Felidae) from the Iberian Peninsula: Taxonomy and evolutionary implications |year=2016 |last1=Boscaini |first1=Alberto |last2=Alba |first2=David M. |last3=Beltrán |first3=Juan F. |last4=Moyà-Solà |first4=Salvador |last5=Madurell-Malapeira |first5=Joan |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=143 |pages=96–106 |bibcode=2016QSRv..143...96B |hdl=11336/182970 |hdl-access=free }}

Fossils have been found from the Middle and Late Pleistocene in Italy and France.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1007/s12210-014-0363-4 |title=Lynx remains from the Pleistocene of Valdemino cave (Savona, Northwestern Italy), and the oldest occurrence of Lynx spelaeus (Carnivora, Felidae) |year=2015 |last1=Ghezzo |first1=Elena |last2=Boscaini |first2=Alberto |last3=Madurell-Malapeira |first3=Joan |last4=Rook |first4=Lorenzo |journal=Rendiconti Lincei |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=87–95 |s2cid=85194755 |hdl=11336/59435 |hdl-access=free }} Body mass reconstructions estimate this lynx to weigh about 23 kg.{{Cite journal|author=Carlo Meloro|date=2007|doi=|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=0807bb871b9b40fbdd65db140f4b9e03131f2047|title=Plio-Pleistocene large carnivores from the Italian peninsula: functional morphology and macroecology|journal=Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”}}