The artwork from the Upper Palaeolithic of Europe is undoubtedly of major historical value. With hundreds of Palaeolithic archaeological sites in Europe, it is an enduring testament to the history of human occupation of the continent, and provides an important perspective on the habits and challenges faced by prehistoric humans in a dramatically changing environment. Data from sites in France and northern Spain were examined to determine whether there were patterns of taxonomic bias within depictions of animals from Upper Palaeolithic artwork, when compared to wider fossil assemblages from the region. Our results highlighted significant biases towards medium and large-bodied herbivores and carnivores, irrespective of the number and quality of depictions, and significantly less focus on smaller-bodied taxa with widespread fossil records from western Europe. Many of the larger mammal species demonstrated unstable population dynamics throughout the late Pleistocene. Emphasis often seemed to be placed on the larger animals within the ecosystem, irrespective of the number of depictions in the cave and of the distance between different sites. Particular examples of unusual or unique representations coupled with respective population dynamics could suggest that the quickly-changing climate and ecological changes at population level for many species were factors which humans may have found interesting. Critical evaluation of controversial theories such as hunting magic demonstrate that attempting to assign a single theory to the production of cave art in the Upper Palaeolithic is risky, but necessary in order to assess not only human cultural development throughout the Palaeolithic, but also to understand why researchers may seek particular explanations.