Boy, 10, finds prehistoric cave lion bones in Gelderland

Part of the lower jaw of a very rare prehistoric cave lion has been found on a secluded beach in the Gelderland town of Wekerom. This spectacular discovery was made by the now 10 year old Enzo Smink, prehistoric museum De Groene Poort in Boxtel announced on Sunday. According to the museum, Enzo found the prehistoric bones in the summer of 2012, but as no one realized the significance of the find, the bones ended up in a box at his grandmother's house. Earlier this year the boy decided to use the bones in a speech he had to do for school and his mother thought it a good idea to send a picture to specialists. "An archaeological discovery of this format is probably done once in 20 years", Rene Fraaije of the museum said to NU. "Cave lions were already rare at that time, let alone finding bones ten thousand years alter." Enzo will officially hand his discovery over to De Groene Poort on Monday, where the bones will have a place of honor. The cave lion was the largest predator of the time of the mammoths and could be found in most of today's Europe. The animal went extinct during the last ice age, about 10 thousand years ago. Most of the information archaeologists have about the appearance of the cave lion comes from prehistoric cave drawings, according to NU.