So over on this thread, we've been discussing a new mutation or Primal variation based on Bast. A few different suggestions and thoughts came up about it, and then Xylax posted this:
"I want to underline that all Primals have bobbed tail though. If you want this specific look it can't be a Primal."

And then KalikaRoo31 (#89224), who originally posted the thread, came up with potentially using the cave lion(Panthera spelaea) as a base for the mutation ideal, so perhaps getting around the need for the bob tail. That being said, from what I can tell, the Primals are all based on the "saber-toothed" cats, not panthers(lions/tigers/leopards/ect.). So that, along with another thought for the Bast-inspired mutation, got me thinking. What about a new panther-based mutation group, similar to Primals?

Some Thoughts
Cave Lions and Extinct Lions/Panthers
Please note that "panther" here refers to the sub-family Panthera, not the marking, or what most people usually end up calling "panthers"(most either say leopards are "panthers", which isn't technically wrong, or even call pumas/mountain lions "panthers", which is wrong.)
Cave Lions and Panthera leo fossilis are so far what I've found to be perhaps the base of this new mutation. I would also say the American Lion, but I thought since the the other two were actually African/European/Asian, it made a tiny bit more sense. Future variations could also be based on other extinct lion subspecies, though I'm not all that sure about that given that most are much more recently extinct.
Fossil Species and Sub-Species of panthers

Mutation Name Ideas
These are just some I threw together quickly, but I'll add to it as people come up with suggestions ^^
-Ancestral
-Primeval
-Sekhem (If June Event related)

Female Passed Mutation?
One idea for the Bast-inspired Primal would be that it would be a female-only Primal variation. If this new mutation group was female passed, it could work exactly as Primal does, but with it being passed by the lioness, rather than our kings. Think similar to Leopons. The pass rate and everything I would say should probably be the same as Primal, though. The only problem this would create is it potentially being overwritten by or overwriting a Primal if it the lioness is bred to a Primal king or GMO Cows and so on, but this is already a thing with passable mutations, and breeders would just have to be careful and conscious about this.

Event Based Lore/Introduction
Personally, I love Primals! However, I always felt like the MOD never fully made sense in its event, or at least we never got a story behind it. For this particular mutation, I personally think the MOD item would make a lot of sense if thrown in with November's "Whispering Ancestors" event, given that it would be based on extinct panther/lion species. It could be either a story-line reward, a shop item, or even potentially a very rare reward from the Shaman Pit's third tier.
This was just my personal thought for what event it would go well with, but it could also go with the June event, given that Bast says this in one of her blurbs: "I had hoped you'd be bigger. Back in our times, many… how do you call these, lions? Primal-like lions were our guardians, but we called ours 'the Sekhem'. The powerful ones. You… are so much smaller. You need to get stronger." Now, she doesn't actually call them Primals, she says they were "Primal-like". She could also only be saying "primal-like", and not even be referring to the mutation, as she starts the sentence with the word "primal". Therefore, grammatically, we can't say she isn't saying they were primal/primitive lions.

Don't Have to be 100% Based on Ancient Panthers
Primals don't seem to be 100% based on the saber-toothed cats, given that they are sort of "crossed" with modern lions. I don't see why this new mutation group, for that reason, would need to be 100% based on the cave lion or other extinct lion-like cats/lions. This would allow for a bit more than them just being bigger lions with some tweaks. It would also help add some uniqueness to them and separate them from the Primals.

Sketches/Concepts
None yet! I'll throw some together later, as well as add any anyone comes up with!


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As a final little note, I in no way expect this to be done within even the next year. There are quite a few things, if I'm not mistaken, that Xylax and the other developers have in the works(such as male lion pose, tiger/lion hybrid, dino game, etc.), and that's just what we know about. However, that's how developing works in general. You start with an idea, and slowly over time it either gets implemented or rejected. At some point, hybrids were just an idea someone made a thread for, and eventually they got developed and implemented officially.

Thank you for any support, comments, or suggestions!