[Defiant]

They had cave lions 3 times the size of African lions back then. Some pretty big bears, too.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

They had cave lions 3 times the size of African lions back then.

Interesting - were these direct ancestors of today's lions or, like saber-toothed "tigers", were they more distantly related members of the cat family that happen to share a name with the modern version?

I'm still not clear on why land mammal sizes seem to have shrunk (cave bear, dire wolf, giant sloth, Imperial mammoth, Baluchitherium to more modest sizes today).

[SunkenCiv]

Short-faced Bear, largest that ever lived, I wonder if the mammoth was on the menu?

http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/shrtbear.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/3011.shtml

This link shows a size comparison with grizzly and polar:

http://www.tarpits.org/education/guide/flora/bear.html