Cave lion (Panthera spelaea) remains have been described in all the Holarctic domain, however, its records in China are very rare. Here we describe an almost complete cranium from Salawusu, Northern China. Even though the dentition is largely broken or missing, the cranium shows key characters with clear cave lion affinity, particularly from the basicranium region. These features include wide and short nasals, wide rostrum without post-canine constriction, enlarged ectotympanic, flatted entotympanic, separated stylomastoid foramen and hyoid fossa and medially located hypoglossal foramen. The cranium is larger than the known cranial size range of Beringia cave lion P. spelaea vereshchagini, suggesting that the geographical delimitation of cave lion subspecies may be more complex than previously understood. The coexistence of cave lion with Palaeoloxodon in Salawusu indicates a high plasticity in diet and environmental adaptation for this species. 

洞狮(Panthera spelaea)是中晚更新世冰期动物群的典型代表。该类群的化石在整个全北界均有记录，广布于欧洲，北亚，北美洲，但中国的发现却极为稀少。报道了发现于中国北方萨拉乌苏动物群的一具近乎完整的洞狮头骨化石。尽管其牙齿大部分已破损或缺失，但该头骨，尤其是在颅基区域，显示出了洞狮的关键特征。其中比较重要的有：宽阔而短的鼻骨、宽阔的吻部且无犬齿后的收缩、膨大的外鼓骨、扁平的内鼓骨、分离的茎乳孔与舌骨窝、以及向内侧延伸扩展的舌下神经孔。该颅骨尺寸超出了已知北亚和北美洲的白令洞狮(P. spelaea vereshchagini)的变异范围。而形态测量学分析显示，该头骨完全落入欧洲洞狮的范畴，这表明洞狮亚种的地理区划可能较既往认知更为复杂。在萨拉乌苏动物群，洞狮与古菱齿象属(Palaeoloxodon)动物群共存，这一现象较为罕见(一般与猛犸象共存), 揭示了洞狮在食性选择和环境适应方面具有高度的可塑性。