I remember it blowing my mind when I learned there were once native lions to northern Greece and the wilderness areas of the Balkins, stretching from the Dalmatian coast all the way to Anatolia. To think humans could even hunt them to extinction back then. But then again, we did it to mammoths with sticks and stones.
@@BringDHouseDown “Scientists aren't sure exactly why woolly mammoths went extinct: Some think that humans hunted too many of them, and others believe that they couldn't survive Earth's naturally warming climate. Or, it could've been a combination of both.” Lmao cry
It’s so insane to me that Europe used to have so much more biodiversity. It’s sad to see so much of it gone, but imagine being some Greek dude walking to see your friends in the other town in like 20 AD and suddenly a whole ass Lion is in your face. There’s a reason they’re not as abundant anymore.
Yeah a lot of people feel bad about tiger population becoming endangered and wholesale extinct in many regions it used to inhabit. And I get that. But if your daughter or mother or sibling was eaten alive, and many have been and still happens to this day, your perspective would most certainly be a lot different.
Europe has a relatively dense human population with a relatively high quality of life. The places with the highest biodiversity typically aren’t very hospitable to humans. It’s a small price to pay for survivability, imho
The white Europeans have a history of killing off animals... look at what they did to American wildlife that needed drastic measures to bring back? lol
Fun Fact: Aurochsen are only extinct in the wild, the domesticated zebu and taurine ox are the last remaining aurochs taxa alive today, the zebu is the last remaining subspecies of Paleotropical Aurochs (Bos namadicus), which resided in North Africa and parts of Southern Asia, while the taurine ox is the last remaining subspecies of Palearctic Aurochs (Bos primigenius), which resided in Europe and Northern Asia.
@bhuggins6059, the zebu is classified as an aurochs, aurochsen are defined by the genus Bos, there are four recognized species of aurochs: the †Long-Horned Aurochs (Bos acutifrons), the †Eritrean Aurochs (Bos buaiensis), the Paleotropical Aurochs (Bos namadicus), and the Palearctic Aurochs (Bos primigenius), the latter two still exist today, though only in the form of their domesticated descendants, the paleotropical aurochs has eight recognized subspecies: the †Caucasian Aurochs (Bos namadicus caucasicus), the †Turkish Aurochs (Bos namadicus turcicus), the †Arabian Aurochs (Bos namadicus arabicus), the †Saharan Aurochs (Bos namadicus mauritanicus), the †Iranian Aurochs (Bos namadicus iranensis), the †Pakistanian Aurochs (Bos namadicus pakistanicus), the †Indian Aurochs (Bos namadicus namadicus), and the Zebu (Bos namadicus indicus), while the palearctic aurochs has fifteen recognized subspecies: the †Caspian Aurochs (Bos primigenius caspicus), the †Himalayan Aurochs (Bos primigenius himalayensis), the †Mongolian Aurochs (Bos primigenius mongolicus), the †Chinese Aurochs (Bos primigenius chinensis), the †Korean Aurochs (Bos primigenius koreensis), the †Siberian Aurochs (Bos primigenius sibiricus), the †Baikal Aurochs (Bos primigenius baicalicus), the †West Russian Aurochs (Bos primigenius russicus), the †Scandinavian Aurochs (Bos primigenius scandinavicus), the †English Aurochs (Bos primigenius englandensis), the †Greek Aurochs (Bos primigenius graecus), the †Italian Aurochs (Bos primigenius italicus), the †Iberian Aurochs (Bos primigenius ibericus), the †Alpine Aurochs (Bos primigenius primigenius), and the Taurine Ox (Bos primigenius taurus).
What’s interesting to note about the Roman Molossus is that there is currently several dog breeders that are attempting to artificially create the breed again, you can look it up on RU-vid it’s pretty insane but you see videos of these massive 8 month old puppies that are as large as a small German shepherd
I dug into this deeply and recommend you take a look at the Turk dogs and central Asian dogs, the LGDs. Akin Tulubas is a good channel to start. Kangals looking like wolves is because they interbreed, male wolf to female dog in heat, and then the owners have half LGD half wolf dogs bred into their programs. Robert Cabral had a person on to talk about cryptozoology in regard to dogs and it makes their jobs really hard lol. Makes fantastic dogs though.
Outstanding content. Interesting, informative and intelligent. The information is presented well and done without sensationalistic overproduction. I could watch stuff like this 24 hours a day. Well done. I'm a fan. I wish all content was more like this. Thank you
14:00 yes and no. Unfortunately the Black Forest was almost all completely cut down during the late 1800s and then reforested with monocultures. So not direct continuity. Also no war elephant slander
Thanks for the usual interesting video, the matter of romans and their dogs does leave me wondering a little more of how the domestication of pets spread throughout ancient cultures.
Taking into account the fact that Nemea is in Greece (current Greece, not historical Greece), the Lion of Nemea shouldn't be a Barbary lion (which lived in North Africa, from Morocco to Egypt) but a proposed "European lion" (it would either belong to the same clade as the extinct Barbary lion but also as the still living Asiatic lion, or to an entirely new clade).
Nemea is still in the same place as it was in antiquity which was always Greece, south of Korinthia. You should visit if you haven't. It's now famous for its wines and it's got a great archaeological site, all excavated by a man from California that eventually moved and lived his whole life there.
@@jorgelotr3752 Heracles is a mythical character. I don't remember if there is any art related to him in Nemea's museum but the site excavated dates from the 3rd century BC. There's a temple of Zeus and a full stadium.
@@andreavgr I know he's a mythical character, but it was not uncommon on ancient poleis to have depictions of local mythical people and events, hence why I asked.
Fun Fact: The Nazis actually tried to rebreed the Aurochs because some of them thought that the germanic people back then got there “power” through hunting strong animals
I imagine in the future,some might take this into an extreme,that human started to recreate non-avian dinosaurs and paleofauna in some game reserve for people to hunt. Similar to the Carnivores game.
Most extinct (and living) animals are insects and mollusc. Pr9bably there are thousands of flies, mosquitoes, beetles, snails, etc. from that time that are now extinct. But we don't care or we don't even know about them 😀
My childhood was book-ended by a pair of collies. They were Good Boys. The first took his self-appointed job of shepherding toddlers & preschoolers very seriously.
Really amazing video. Somewhat related, is that I wonder how classical civilizations impacted their surrounding environment. Today, we are inundated with the effects of our industrialization on the world, we see how our technology has reshaped the land, causing deforestation, massive habitat loss, pollution, and so forth. But were the classical civilizations more in balance with their surrounding environment? Or were they, like us, causing a massive change as we are doing now?
Just think of all the raw sewage that went into the rivers and seas by Roman cities. Being environmentally friendly wasn't a top priority, I would think.
aforestation levels are actually higher than deforestation levels thanks to our technology re-routing of rivers has made once barren lands, lush now so forth(translation: you don't know what else to add to the list) pollution is the only thing you said that is true
@@BringDHouseDown Maybe but those are not natural so are not actually creating full complex environments - old natural forests are completely different from a modern planted woodland, lush farmland created by humans generally have little or no wild flora/fauna - it is like comparing a lawn of 2 grass varieties with an old meadow with 100s of different grasses/flowers
@@hollythebordercollie2257 I don't know why you're focusing only on farmland and not the areas that aren't used for farming not sure what is the point of bringing up how an old forest is different to a new one how are they not natural when they were created by nature, did humans stop being a part of nature all of a sudden? how are they not complex when they have all the building blocks of life, have migration of animals moving in or simply stopping by for water(say someone created a pond in the middle of a desert).
Except for the Caspian tiger, I had never heard of any of these animals. I like learning of extinct animals that humans had experience with, in one manner or another.
There are all sorts of now extinct animals that humans would have crossed paths with, many of them were also incredibly dangerous. Australia had something called a Megalania, it was basically a giant monitor lizard that was substantially larger than a komodo dragon. It went extinct not long after humans arrived there. Can you imagine being a hunter gatherer and crossing paths with something like that? Or better, setting up camp some place knowing that monster was out there roaming around. It's easy for us to say in our modern world, but these types of animals would have easily killed and preyed upon a lone human if given the opportunity.
@@oglocbaby520 Oh, I've heard of the megalania. I've also heard of the thylacoleo another Australian animal that might have preyed on humans. I know of many species of animals that existed during the time that humans existed including the cave lion (European lion), the American lion, American cheetah, American leopard, and Smilodon fatalis.
Who the hell has NEVER heard of the Barbary Lions, from the Barbary Coast of North Africa? Have you also never heard of the lions of the Namib Sea as well? These animals have had numerous documentaries on PBS!!
@@nadiaddis1145 I believe I may have "misspoken". Yes, I'd heard of the Barbary Lions (In fact, I saw one in a zoo several years ago.). I like to think of myself as being well-read where animals are concerned which is why I may have misspoke.
That second dog breed in mosaics looks highly similar to medieval hunting dogs of medium builds in artwork, Probably their predecessor before they gave way to modern European hunting breeds?
Hello people, Greek guy from epirus here, I can assure you that the Molossus of epirus is not extinct. Many shepherds still use it in both parts of epirus (the Albanian and the Greek one). It survived through the centuries. +It was bred mostly as a guardian dog not as a war dog, guarding the livestock of the epirotes which it still does to this day
Yes, but it is questionable is that the same breed as in the Bronze age. Those were usually described as guard dogs for elite, not as shepards. And when shown on art from time of Alexander the Great, war molossus seem unbelievable huge. But then again, men were smaller then 🤔
@@melanimatejak6821 These dogs originated from epirotic mountains. Ofcourse later on the Romans and other Greek tribes including the epirotes used them as war dogs. They are pretty big actually, in contrast, the normal height for an ancient Greek Male is about 5 feet and 7 inches, these depictions are accurate, yes
Was there ever an escapee tiger in Rome? You know how today you sometimes have animals in zoos completely dedicated to escape. I wonder if that ever happened. Yesyes they were far more strictly kept but all thats needed is 1 guy to accidenrally leave an opening in 1 thousand years and a tigers on the loose in the citt
Not sure about a tiger, but, assuming this isn’t just made up, a giant python got loose in rome once, and when it was put down human remains were found in its intestines. We know Roman aristocrats sometimes kept snakes as pets so I suppose this incident is plausible
Lol it makes me so mad about how we've treated elephants throughout history. I don't know why maltreatment of that particular animal upsets me so much but it sure does.
Because elephants are intelligent enough to have emotions and even have certain rites. I'd even say they have a soul. There is an instance recorded by Seneca, Pliny and Cicero where elephants in the arena, upon being slaughtered and losing all hope, started wailing, raising their trunks towards the sky and crying to the crowd for mercy. The crowd was so moved that it turned against Pompei, the organizer of the games. The pointless death of each animal in the arena is to be condemned, but the elephants were the only ones which gained a sense of how truly hopeless and cruel the arena actually was.
I was impressed that you did your Homework on the Barbary Lion. All of the other videos I've seen on the BL have failed miserably to mention that they were in no a way a unique species or subspecies.
I read that it was 2 people on horse and 1 lured the mother away while the second grabbed at minimum 3 cubs and horse out. The mother would hear and instantly turn chase. The rider would almost be caught toss a cub that the mother would den and give chase again. 3 cubs were required to not be caught as she was fast enough to catch the rider and rescue the second cub
These videos make me resent humanity…..and feel such great loss for entire species, the most impressive of them. I wish the large dangerous animals were still prevalent to dissuade people from encroaching on their habitat, and we respected that.
@@chuckleezodiac24 It's easy for people in our modern world, but the reality is that in ancient and even more so prehistoric times life was about survival. Some of the extinction is definitely due to humans hunting prey foods, but I'm also positive that people were going OUT of their way to kill dangerous animals. Imagine being in the hills in the balkans knowing there are lions out there. Another example I gave was the Megalania, a giant monitor lizard in Australia that went extinct not long after humans arrived. This thing was substantially larger than a komodo dragon and would have easily killed and preyed upon a person that was alone. Imagine setting up camp someplace knowing that beast was out there roaming around? All of these folk stories of heroes killing mythical beasts are all based around real events that occurred over thousands of years.
@@oglocbaby520 you made me think of Paleolithic Pacifists or Vegans. Gnato: "It appears we're surrounded by ravenous beasts. Surely, we must do them no harm or even defend ourselves." Lagoom: "We shall allow these fearsome creatures to feast on our flesh for they are immoral meat-eaters and we are morally superior to them."
@@garymaidman625I don't know if any European bison lives in Ukraine but the largest population lives in Poland and Belarus. There is a large bison reintroduction program throughout Europe. Bisons from Poland are sent to various countries in Europe and are bred there. The European bison was on the verge of extinction during World War II, but fortunately, scientists from Poland and Belarus managed to multiply the population. Białowieża forest is the place where most of them live.
@@albertkowalski5629 the forest that is the stronghold of the bison is on the border of Poland and Ukraine, not to mention pocket populations throughout Ukraine. The Ukraine population stands at around 350 according to data. There are even free-ranging herds in Switzerland believe it or not. They are far more prevalent than a lot of people realise. IUCN has them at Near Threatened, which is just one rung below No Concern.
@@garymaidman625 I believe you that there are European bisons in Switzerland because that's what I wrote about, for over 15 years bisons born in Poland/Belarus have been sent to many European countries for reintroduction purposes. To Romania, Germany, Spain etc. The largest herd of european bison lives in the Białowieża Forest on the Polish-Belarusian border. There are about 800 bisons there. In Poland alone, according to the yearly data, the total population is approximately 2,480 animals. In Belarus around 2230.
Cool video. I took a guess at the start, but could only think of three animals that fitted the description Hmm... is it just me or does the narrator on this channel sound like Sam the Eagle from the muppets? It's so cute.
I’ve a fun fact: in my native country of Northern Ireland, there’s claims that the Belfast zoo allegedly has some of the last Barbary Lions left in existence (only three I think at the time of this comment) and the zoo has recently opened a Barbary Lion habitat to help repopulate the species.
Many places in Poland like Turzyniec, Turów which means the place of an auroch. There is a grass called turzyca which I reckon was one of the main auroch foods.
@@kichmadev the last living auroch died in jaktorów forest in Poland . It was a female. Despite of aurochs being protected for many years they unfortunately died out. I wonder how auroch and wisent coexisted in Europe. How their ecological niches were different end in what ways they were overlapping. Sure there had to be some competition for pastures
@@krystianzasko6934 Can imagine them living peacefully along side one another, same as bovines in Africa. There's enough grass out there for both... I imagine their main issue become living with humans, maybe even catching diseases from cattle along side poaching etc. Didn't know they were protected, that is interesting to hear, guess they had some common sense back then too. Except they failed to protect it.
The last natural home of the Asiatic lion is the Gir Forest in the state of Gujarat in western India. I have seen lions lying down from just 15-20 metres away , while standing in the open. With a vehicle nearby. But the animals are used to humans and are not aggressive.
There’s a complicated multi faceted style of art that goes unnoticed by modern humans until we studied for a few weeks. Many of the citizens who learn how to see it are sharing the art. One thing we all have in common is just about all of us have found ancient sites. Mine is in North Carolina. Take a peek at the avatar. 🗿👍
The Molossus dog was originally from Epirus and Pyrrhus was said to have used them when going to war against the Romans. There was actually a larger elephant known the Syrian elephant which had a shoulder height of upto 11.5 feet making it taller and also larger than North African elephants. However it was said to be extinct by 700 BC but the records are not fully clear. It was said that the Seleucids used them and also Hanibal Barca had a very large elephant which he personally used called 'Surus' meaning the Syrian.
Maybe Syrian elephants were a bit larger than forest elephants elsewhere, but not much. Ancient records specifically say that Asian war elephants were bigger and stronger than any African war elephants used at the time.
@@melanimatejak6821 Just type Syrian elephant on Google and you can read on it. They were much larger and taller than common Asian elephants. They were also much larger than African elephants.
"After this he went out through a certain door, paying no heed to the fact that the lion which he was wont to call "Rapier" and had for a table-companion and bedfellow seized him as he went out and even tore his clothing. For he used to keep many lions and always had some of them around him, but this one he would often caress even in public." Cassius Dio's History, Book LXXIX, 7.2-3. cool article for pet lovers -- via University of Chicago -- The Classical Journal: "Greek and Roman Household Pets" by Francis Lazenby.
Barbary lions were actually larger than African lions. There is a small relict population being bred by Howletts zoo. From surviving Barbary lions that were captive in North Africa.
A fascinating bit of info is that apparently The Aurochs is actually on its way of being brought back from the Gates of Death, not by the totally real science of Jurassic Park but by selective breading of modern cattle. I think the same thing is happening with the Barbary Lion but I could be mistaken and it would be happening on a much smaller scale.
The problem is domestic cattle are not descendants of European auroch but Asian auroch which was a different animal in many respects. Therefore it is impossible to create true European auroch for any of the modern cattle.
The worst part of these videos are there will always be more of them. There are species on the verge of extinction right now that will one day end up in a video essay.
Fun Fact: The Lion (Panthera leo) and Tiger (Uncia tigris) equally have the most subspecies out of all the eleven extant big cat species, the lion originated exclusively from Europe and has twelve recognized subspecies, the most basal of the twelve lion subspecies is the †European Lion (Panthera leo fossilis), then followed by the split between two clades, the Panthera leo persica group (Asiatic Lions) that contains the Indian Lion (Panthera leo persica) and the †Sri Lanka Lion (Panthera leo sinhaleyus) and the Panthera leo leo group (African Lions) that contains the †Egyptian Lion (Panthera leo aegyptiaca), the †Barbary Lion (Panthera leo leo), the West African Lion (Panthera leo senegalensis), the Congo Lion (Panthera leo azandica), the Nubian Lion (Panthera leo nubica), the Ethiopian Lion (Panthera leo roosevelti), the Katanga Lion (Panthera leo bleyenberghi), the Transvaal Lion (Panthera leo krugeri), and the †Cape Lion (Panthera leo melanochaita), the tiger originated exclusively from Western Asia and also has twelve recognized subspecies, the most basal of the twelve tiger subspecies is the †Caspian Tiger (Uncia tigris virgata), then followed by the Bengal Tiger (Uncia tigris tigris), with the most recent split being between the Uncia tigris altaica group (North Asian Tigers) that contains the South China Tiger (Uncia tigris amoyensis), the †Wanhsien Tiger (Uncia tigris acutidens), and the Siberian Tiger (Uncia tigris altaica) and the Uncia tigris sondaica group (Southeast Asian Tigers) that contains the Indochinese Tiger (Uncia tigris corbetti), the Malayan Tiger (Uncia tigris jacksoni), the Sumatran Tiger (Uncia tigris sumatrae), the †Ngandong Tiger (Uncia tigris soloensis), the †Javan Tiger (Uncia tigris sondaica), the †Trinil Tiger (Uncia tigris trinilensis), and the †Bali Tiger (Uncia tigris balica), the other nine living big cat species have fewer subspecies than the lion and tiger, the Asiatic Cheetah (Acinonyx venaticus) has four subspecies: the †Caucasian Cheetah (Acinonyx venaticus caucasicus), the †Arabian Cheetah (Acinonyx venaticus arabicus), the Iranian Cheetah (Acinonyx venaticus iranensis), and the †Indian Cheetah (Acinonyx venaticus venaticus), the African Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) has four subspecies under two clades: the Acinonyx jubatus soemmerringii group (North African Cheetahs) that contains the Northeast African Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus soemmerringii) and the Northwest African Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) and the Acinonyx jubatus jubatus group (South African Cheetahs) that contains the Southeast African Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) and the Southwest African Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus angolensis), the Puma (Puma concolor) has two subspecies: the Nearctic Puma (Puma concolor couguar) and the Neotropical Puma (Puma concolor concolor), the Jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) has two subspecies: the Northern Jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi mexicanus) and the Southern Jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi yagouaroundi), the Leopard (Panthera pardus) has four subspecies: the African Leopard (Panthera pardus pardus), the South Asian Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca), the North Asian Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), and the †European Leopard (Panthera pardus spelaea), the Snow Leopard (Uncia uncia) has three subspecies: the Western Ounce (Uncia uncia uncia), the Eastern Ounce (Uncia uncia irbis), and the †European Ounce (Uncia uncia pyrenaica), the Northern Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) has four subspecies: the Himalayan Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa himalayana), the Sichuan Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa nebulosa), †Hainan Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa hainana), and the †Formosan Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa brachyura), the Southern Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi) has five subspecies: the Western Indochinese Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi burmensis), the Eastern Indochinese Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi thaica), the Malayan Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi malayana), the Sumatran Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi diardi), and the Bornean Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi borneensis), and the Jaguar (Jaguarius onca) has four subspecies: the North American Jaguar (Jaguarius onca angustus), the Central American Jaguar (Jaguarius onca centralis), the Amazon Jaguar (Jaguarius onca onca), and the Andean Jaguar (Jaguarius onca peruvianus).
@BAlex2209, the tiger now belongs to the genus Uncia, to which it is classified with the Ounce (Uncia uncia), formerly known as the snow leopard, therefore the scientific name of the tiger is now Uncia tigris, the only two extant species of the Panthera genus are now the Leopard (Panthera pardus) and the Lion (Panthera leo), which also relocates the jaguar to another separate genus being Jaguarius, to which its scientific name is now Jaguarius onca, the jaguar is now believed to be the closest living relative of the bohebaos (genus Neofelis), formerly known as clouded leopards, with the Uncia genus having closer affinity with the Neofelis + Jaguarius split, while Panthera is the most basal and distantly related from all the other groups.
You forgot the Irish wolfhound. The modern breed is an artificial mutt. Its mentioned in the writings of Roman consul Quintus Aurelius Symmachus in 391AD.
@@overman2306 am I though? The video is titled Eight Extinct Animals the Greeks & Romans Saw. Not Greeks OR Romans, but Greeks AND Romans. Forgive me for being able to comprehend what is written.
Thinking about the extinct beasts that perished in the early days of humanity's rise makes me so wistful. Oh to have seen the world before the coming of man
Some think that the dense natural beech forest that covered much of Europe, was already a product of human influence. Before humans killed the big grazing animals, the natural vegetation would have been a more park-like oak forest.
Boston Market Restaurants are now extinct. And they closed 57 Stop & Shop supermarkets in NJ , now in 2024. That more important than what happened 2500 years ago in Greece.
Dude... I was literally searching this exact topic on Google the other day - seems like a pretty random topic not really discussed at all. Which, given all of the data collection, AI, algorithm type stuff these days, that's probably why this showed up. But I started with something like, "the most notable extinct animals to have ever coexisted with humans" or something like that, to "extinct animals that existed in the last x thousand years/at the time of the Greeks and Romans", etc. I found a big list going like millennia by millennia but it didn't seem super in-depth - and the vast majority seemed like birds and other small animals that weren't that shocking - I mean, that list was interesting and the whole general topic is super interesting but I'm thinking there were probably more notable examples than that list gave..
A correction the Molos Dog you mentioned as being from Epirus Greece is in fact incorrect. Epirus has been ruled by King Pirro who was Illyrian and formed by many Illyrian Tribes. One of the tribes was also named Molos as the dog and has been the name of Illyrian Tribe which again resided inside Epirus.
The tiger incident at the beginning of the narrative had me thinking "so, it was like the ancient Roman version of the incident that ended Siegfried and Roy's show career!"
Excellent video! Glad you mentioned insular dwarfism, the concept is very interesting. Sometimes the pendulum swings the other way, as well, which is also neat to learn about! Those dwarf elephants would have been extremely cool, and exciting to see! I guess they've always stuck out as one of the extinct creatures that I would want to meet first, if I were able to choose an extinct animal. The giant sloth, or wombat, would also work! I have an English Mastiff that looks nothing like historical Roman mastiffs. Yeah, I'd say those others look like Elk Hound/Pit Bull, crosses! Not that they are, they just look like them.
Hannibal elephant could have been "Syrian" in the meaning it was an elephant from Seleucid royal herd that was supposedly bred there for about three generations (from the time of Seleukos I to Antiochus IV) one of those could have been gifted or sold to Carthage.
bro i thought the aurochs were prehistorical creatures and went out like way way back then, got my mind absolutely blown knowing they were still around 100 years into the renaissance era! They really dont teach the important stuff in school
good video man. this knowledge will be spread by the poeple who watch it. i like the part about the greek/roman guy who kept a lion as his pet in his bed chamber.
Really enjoyed (?) this video, at least the information presented. As always, it's sad to examine the history of species rendered extinct by humans. If people think about it, the previous extent of the lion's range in the Mediterranean is indicated by the many depictions of it in art and oral histories in the region. I'm not certain where the British came in contact with it, but could have been somewhere in the region...
The Barbary Lion (South Mediterranean lion) was not close to the Asiatic one. Maybe the one that existed in Bronze Age Greece was, but not the one in North Africa. It was a separate race of lions (maybe even a separate species) and it was larger, larger than the Subsaharan one and of course much larger than the Asiatic one. There are stories in Morocco about how it could decapitate a man with a single blow with his leg. It was a magnificent beast, but also very dangerous, hence hunted down to extinction. Note that the ancient Greek lion was extinct already by the end of the Bronze Age as it was hunted out of existence.
I thought Caracalla was killed on the side of the road while the army was marching not in his bedchamber but maybe that’s just the historia Augusta version
The Greco-Romans also documented “Dragons” or “Ethiopian Dragons”. I wonder if these “Dragons” were exaggerated accounts of large reptiles like crocodiles,monitor lizards or pythons.
