In Rome's Colosseum and other amphitheaters in cities scattered across the sprawling ancient Roman Empire, gladiatorial spectacles were not merely human-versus-human affairs. Gladiators also were pitted against animals.

Skeletal remains in a Roman burial ground in northern England were found to have lesions that looked suspiciously like bite marks. Modern forensic techniques found that the teeth behind the marks probably belonged to a large feline, and the part of the skeleton that had been in the creature’s mouth further indicated it must have been a lion.

Researchers compared puncture marks on an 1,800-year-old skeleton in the UK to various animal bites, and concluded that the individual was likely bitten by a lion.