Tag Archives: Lascaux Caves

The power of wonder

Posted on June 26, 2019 by twilightbeasts

There is no denying our fascination with wildlife. Shows such as Blue Planet, Planet Earth, and the more recent Our Planet, have had millions of viewers across the world. People, young and old, flock around cases full of taxidermy in … Continue reading →

Posted in Cave art | Tagged Annette Laming, Bear, Bison, cave art, France, Horses, Ibex, Lascaux Cave, Lascaux Caves, Woolly rhinoceros | 6 Comments

The moo of the wild

Posted on November 11, 2015 by twilightbeasts

In a sense, Pleistocene megafauna are still with us even in post-industrial England. It may not seem like it but the humble heifer is probably the most successful species of megafauna on the planet, outnumbering all the elephants, rhinos, whales, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aurochs | Tagged ancient DNA, Aurochs, cave art, Chauvet Caves, cow, DNA, domestication, extinct, Extinction, Heck cattle, Lascaux Caves, Nazis, Pleistocene, Ross Barnett | 12 Comments

T’was the night before Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2014 by twilightbeasts

Head held down, the reindeer forced itself forwards. A strong, icy wind blasted against it’s thick hide. Straining to hear in the howling storm, there was no sign of the herd. Some moments earlier it had become separated from the group. Something had startled … Continue reading →

Posted in Reindeer | Tagged Alces alces, Arctic hare, Arctic lemming, Capreolus capreolus, Caribou, Cave Lion, Cervus elaphus, Clement Moores, Cueva de las Monedas, Dama dama, Devon, Elk, Fallow Deer, Father Christmas, Giant Deer, Horse, Hyena, Irish Elk, Kents Cavern, Lascaux Caves, Last Glacial Maximum, leopard, Mammoth, Mammoth Steppe, Megaloceros giganteus, Montastruc, musk ox, Plymouth, Rangifer tarandus, reindeer, Roe Deer, Rudolf, Sabre tooth cat, Santa, Wolf, Woolly rhinoceros | 10 Comments

The deadliest Twilight beast?

Posted on August 14, 2014 by twilightbeasts

A long time ago, 1879 to be precise, a little girl and her father were exploring a cave in Spain when she gasped in amazement “ Look, daddy! Bulls!” The images she saw for the first time in about 16,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in Bison | Tagged Altamira, Beringa, Beringia, Bison, Bison bonasus, Bison priscus, Lascaux Caves, Le Morin, Mammoth, Mastodon, Tuc d'Audoubert, Villars Cave, Wisent, Younger Dryas | 16 Comments

To worship the lion

Posted on July 4, 2014 by twilightbeasts

We think of lions, today, as African animals. This is mostly true. However, there is still a tiny refugium of non-African lions, isolated in the Kathiawar peninsula of India, and centred on the Gir forest reserve. Here, 400 or so … Continue reading →

Posted in Cave Lion | Tagged American lion, art, Cave Lion, Chauvet Caves, Extinction, Homotherium latidens, Lascaux Caves, löwenmensch, Pleistocene | 11 Comments

Galloping across the steppes

Posted on May 21, 2014 by twilightbeasts

Around 50 million years ago, long before the Epoch of the Twilight Beasts, a little mammal, Eohippus, scurried about in the forests of North America. This creature, about the size of an average dog, was the ancestor of the magnificent … Continue reading →

Posted in Horse | Tagged Aurignacian, Chauvet Caves, Eocene, Eohippus, Equus caballus, Hippidion, Jean Auel, Lascaux Caves, Miocene, Pliocene, Przewalski's horse, Tarpan, The Valley of Horses, Vogelherd horse | 51 Comments

An elk that wasn’t an elk

Posted on April 30, 2014 by twilightbeasts

To see an Irish Elk (Megaloceros giganteus) in all its glory, visit the National Museum of Ireland, in Dublin. Here, skeletons of this magnificent beast are articulated, proudly towering higher than the visitors. What really stands out are the incredibly enormous … Continue reading →

Posted in Irish Elk | Tagged Eurasian Elk, Fallow Deer, Holocene, Irish Elk, Lascaux Caves, Last Glacial Maximum, Megaloceros gignanteus, Pleistocene | 19 Comments

The forgotten sabretooth

Posted on April 28, 2014 by twilightbeasts

If the Pleistocene megafauna held a popularity contest then I’m certain that some species would pop up more than others. The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), the giant ground sloth (Megatherium americanum) and sabretooth cat (Smilodon fatalis) are probably the gold, silver, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sabre tooth Cat | Tagged Cave Lion, Chauvet Caves, Creswell Crags, European Scimitar Cat, Ground sloth, Homotherium latidens, Kents Cavern, Lascaux Caves, Robin Hood Cave, Sabre tooth cat, Smilodon fatalis, William Boyd Dawkins, Woolly Mammoth | 21 Comments

	The most (and least)… on A very brief introduction to…
	The most (and least)… on The Nipple Tooth
	The most (and least)… on The burrowers
	The most (and least)… on The Stuff Of Night-Mares
	The most (and least)… on The beasts within

	The most (and least)… on A very brief introduction to…
	The most (and least)… on The Nipple Tooth
	The most (and least)… on The burrowers
	The most (and least)… on The Stuff Of Night-Mares
	The most (and least)… on The beasts within