DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3936483
title: Cave lynx Osteometrical Datasets from L'Escale Palaeontological site (South-East France)

description: <strong>Background</strong><br> These datasets provide osteometrical measurements for dental and postcranial remains in cave lynx from the Middle Pleistocene site of L’Escale (South-East France). The cave lynx sample from L’Escale is probably one of the richest and most important population for the European (Middle) Pleistocene. <br> L’Escale Cave, located about 30 km north to Aix-en-Provence, has been excavated during the 1960’s under the direction of Eugène and Marie-Françoise Bonifay. This site, dated to the first half of the Middle Pleistocene, yielded remarkable faunal associations, including abundant thar – <em>Hemitragus bonali</em> – remains as well as numerous and highly diverse carnivores such as the wolverine <em>Gulo schlosseri</em>, the « european » jaguar <em>Panthera gombaszoegensis</em>, the cave lynx <em>Lynx spelaeus</em> as well as the fossil striped hyena <em>Hyaena prisca</em> (Bonifay, 1971 ; Bonifay, 1974-75). L’Escale presents a unique palaeobiological record mixing phases of carnivore occupations (bears, striped hyenas?, jaguars?, wolves?, foxes) and natural trapping events (thar) (Coumont, 2006). <strong>Method</strong><br> All the specimens have been described and measured (in millimeters with callipers to 0.1mm) by the authors. They are stored and curated in the MNP – Musée National de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies, Dordogne, France. <br> <strong>Data description</strong><br> <em>File title:</em><br> Each file is named according to the following pattern:<br> • <strong>First part</strong>: abreviation of considered species (i.e., Lps = Lynx pardinus spelaeus); <br> • <strong>Second part</strong>: anatomical part codification: <br> <em> ◦ MAND: Mandible <br> ◦ U: Upper / L: Lower<br> ◦ C: Canine / P: Premolar / M: Molar <br> ◦ 1 to 5: tooth or metapodials (metacarpals/metatarsals/phalanges) rank <br> ◦ HUM: Humerus / RAD: Radius / ULN: Ulna<br> ◦ FEM: Femur / TIB: Tibia<br> ◦ SCAPHL: Scapholunar (Carpal)<br> ◦ CALCA: Calcaneus (Tarsal)<br> ◦ TAL: Talus (Tarsal)<br> ◦ MTC: Metacarpals / MTT: Metatarsals</em> <em>File content</em>:<br> • <strong>chrono</strong>: Chronology (i.e., Middle or Late Pleistocene); <br> • <strong>MIS</strong>: Marine Isotopic Stage (if applicable); <br> • <strong>species</strong>: specific (or sub-specific) identification (i.e., Lynx spelaea); <br> • <strong>country</strong>: Site location (i.e., France); <br> • <strong>site</strong>: Site name; <br> • <strong>label</strong>: Specimen label such as archaeological number or museum inventory number; <br> • <strong>side</strong>: Specimen laterality, it could be left (sin) or right (dext); <br> •<strong> L_cond_infra (in mm)</strong>: length from the condyle process to infradental (in mm), applicable only for the mandible;<br> • <strong>L_angul_infra</strong>: length from the angular process to infradental (in mm), applicable only for the mandible;<br> • <strong>L_coron_infra</strong>: length from coronion to infradental (in mm), applicable only for the mandible;<br> • <strong>L_diast</strong>: Diastema length (in mm), applicable only for the mandible;<br> • <strong>L_rawtth</strong>: Raw teeth length (in mm);<br> • <strong>H_p3</strong>: Horizontal ramus height before p3 (in mm), applicable only for the mandible;<br> • <strong>H_m1</strong>: Horizontal ramus height behind m1 (in mm), applicable only for the mandible;<br> • <strong>B_c</strong>: Horizontal ramus breadth at lower canine (in mm), applicable only for the mandible;<br> •<strong> B_p3</strong>: Horizontal ramus breadth before p3 (in mm), applicable only for the mandible;<br> • <strong>B_m1</strong>: Horizontal ramus breadth behind m1 (in mm), applicable only for the mandible;<br> • <strong>B</strong>: Breadth (in mm); <br> • <strong>L</strong>: Breadth (in mm); <br> • <strong>GL</strong>: Greatest length (in mm);<br> • <strong>Dp</strong>: Depth of the proximal end (in mm), applicable only for long bones and metapodials;<br> • <strong>Bp</strong>: Greatest breadth of the proximal end (in mm), applicable only for long bones and metapodials;<br> • <strong>Ds</strong>: Depth of the diaphysis (in mm), applicable only for long bones and metapodials;<br> • <strong>SD</strong>: Smallest breadth of the diaphysis (in mm), applicable only for long bones and metapodials;<br> • <strong>Dd</strong>: Depth of the distal end (in mm), applicable only for long bones and metapodials;<br> • <strong>Bd</strong>: Greatest breadth of the distal end (in mm), applicable only for long bones and metapodials;<br> • <strong>B_troch</strong>: Breadth of the trochlea (in mm), applicable only for the humerus;<br> • <strong>DPA</strong>: Depth across the processus anconaeus (in mm), applicable only for the ulna;<br> • <strong>SDO</strong>: Smallet depth of the olceranon (in mm), applicable only for the ulna;<br> • <strong>BPC</strong>: Greatest breadth across the coronoid process (in mm), applicable only for the ulna;<br> • <strong>GB</strong>: Greatest breadth (in mm), applicable only for carpals/tarsals; <br> • <strong>H</strong>: Greatest height (in mm), applicable only for carpals/tarsals; <br> • <strong>GD</strong>: Greatest depth (in mm), applicable only for carpals/tarsals; <br> • <strong>location</strong>: Curation place. <br> <br> <strong>References</strong><br> • Bonifay, M.-F., 1974-1975. "Hemitragus bonali" Harlé et Stehlin, "Caprinae" de la grotte de l’Escale (Saint-Estève-Janson, Bouhes-du-Rhône). Quaternaria XVIII, 215–301.<br> • Bonifay, M.-F., 1971. Carnivores quaternaires du Sud-Est de la France. Mémoires du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sér. C – Sciences de la Terre 21, 1–334.<br> • Coumont, M.-P., 2006. Taphonomie préhistorique : mammifères fossiles en contexte naturel, les avens-pièges, apport pour l’étude des archéofaunes. Thèse de Doctorat. Université Aix-Marseille 1, Aix-en-Provence.
description: Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the National Museum of Prehistory (MNP), Les-Eyzies-de-Tayac, and particularly Jean-Jacques Cleyet-Merle, Director and Curator, who allows us to work on the fossil sample from L'Escale. The authors are indebt to Marie-Françoise Bonifay for her unvaluable researches on Pleistocene carnivores from South-East France including the cave lynxes from L'Escale.