Lion

•    Kingdom:        Animalia (animals)

•    Phylum:          Chordata (vertebrates)

•     Class:              Mammalia (mammals)

•     Order:             Carnivora (carnivores)

•     Suborder:        Feliformia (cat-like)

•     Family:           Felidae (cats)

•     Subfamily:      Pantherinae (big cats)

•     Genus:           Panthera (big cats)

•     Species:         Panthera leo (lion)

Species:        Panthera leo (lion)
The lion (Panthera leo) is a species in the family Felidae and a member of the genus Panthera. It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996, as populations in African range countries declined by about 43% since the early 1990s. Lion populations are untenable outside designated protected areas. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes of concern.The West African lion population is listed as Critically Endangered since 2016.The only lion population in Asia survives in and around India's Gir Forest National Park and is listed as Endangered since 1986.

The lion typically inhabits grasslands and savannahs, but is absent in dense forest. It is usually more diurnal than other big cats, but when persecuted adapts to being active at night and at twilight. A lion pride consists of a few adult males, related females and cubs. Prides vary in size and composition from three to 20 adult lions, depending on habitat and prey availability. Females cooperate when hunting and prey mostly on large ungulates.They are opportunistic hunters and prefer prey weighing 190 to 550 kg (420 to 1,210 lb).The lion is an apex and keystone predator.

With some males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb) in weight, it is the second-largest living cat species after the tiger.[9] Wild male lions seldom live longer than 10 to 14 years, as injuries sustained from continual fighting with rival males greatly reduce their life span.Captive lions live more than 20 years.

In the Pleistocene, the spelaea cave lion was the most widespread large land mammal and ranged throughout Eurasia to North America.The atrox lion ranged in the Americas to Peru.

Male lions are easily recognized by their manes, and the male's face is one of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture. Cultural depictions of lions are known from the Upper Paleolithic period, with carvings and paintings from the Lascaux and Chauvet Caves in France dated to 17,000 years ago, through virtually all ancient and medieval cultures where they once occurred. It has been extensively depicted in sculptures and paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature. Lions have been kept in menageries since the time of the Roman Empire, and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoos over the world since the late 18th century. Zoos are cooperating worldwide in breeding programs for the endangered Asiatic lions.
Etymology
The lion's name, similar in many Romance languages, is derived from the Latin leo,and the Ancient Greek λέων (leon).The Hebrew word לָבִיא (lavi) may also be related.It was one of the species originally described by Linnaeus, who gave it the name Felis leo, in his eighteenth-century work, Systema Naturae.

Taxonomy

Two cladograms proposed for Panthera. The upper cladogram is based on the 2006[17] and 2009[18] studies, while the lower one is based on the 2010 and 2011 studies.
The lion's closest relatives are the other species of the genus Panthera: the tiger, snow leopard, jaguar, and leopard. Results of phylogenetic studies published in 2006 and 2009 indicated that the jaguar and the lion belong to one sister group, which diverged about 2.06 million years ago.Results of later studies published in 2010 and 2011 indicate that the leopard and the lion belong to the same sister group, which diverged 1.95–3.10 million years ago.The lion and the snow leopard diverged about 2.1 million years ago.

Lion subspecies

Range map showing lion subspecies that were considered valid in the late 20th century
Following Carl Linnaeus's first descriptions of the species, 26 lion specimens were described and proposed as subspecies between the mid 18th and mid 20th centuries, of which 11 were recognised as valid in 2005.They were distinguished on the basis of appearance, size and colour of mane. As these characteristics vary highly between individuals, most of these forms were probably not true subspecies, especially as they were often based upon museum material with "striking, but abnormal" morphological characteristics.Based on morphology of 58 lion skulls in three European museums, the subspecies krugeri, nubica, persica, and senegalensis were assessed distinct; but bleyenberghi overlapped with senegalensis and krugeri. The Asiatic lion persica was the most distinctive, and the Cape lion had characteristics allying it more with P. l. persica than the other sub-Saharan lions.Until 2016, eight subspecies were accepted and considered valid.

Phylogenetic research
Early phylogenetic research was focused on lions from eastern and southern parts of Africa, and already showed that they can possibly be divided in two main clades: one to the west of the Great Rift Valley and the other to the east. Lions in eastern Kenya are genetically much closer to lions in Southern Africa than to lions in the Aberdare National Park in western Kenya.In a subsequent study, tissue and bone samples of 32 lion specimens in museums were used. Results indicated that lions form three phylogeographic groups, one each in North Africa and Asia, in Central Africa and in Southern Africa. Samples of 53 lions, both wild and captive individuals, from 15 countries were used for phylogenetic analysis. Results showed little genetic diversity between lions from Asia, West and Central Africa, whereas lions from East Africa were genetically closer to lions from Southern Africa.Results of another phylogeographic study indicate that southeastern Ethiopia, western Somalia and northern Kenya are genetic admixture regions between lions from Central Africa and Southern Africa, and that lions in the northern part of Central Africa are genetically closer to lions in North and West Africa, and those in the southern part of Central Africa closer to lions in Southern Africa.

The majority of lions kept in zoos are hybrids of different subspecies. Approximately 77% of the captive lions registered by the International Species Information System are of unknown origin. Nonetheless, they might carry genes that are extinct in the wild, and might be therefore important to maintain overall genetic variability of the lion.It is thought that those lions, imported to Europe before the middle of the 19th century, were mainly either Barbary lions from North Africa or lions from the Cape.

Classification
Between 2008 and 2016, IUCN Red List assessors for lions used only two subspecific names, P. l. leo for African lion populations and P. l. persica for the Asiatic lion population.In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group assigned the lion populations in Asia and West, Central and North Africa to P. l. leo, and those in Southern and East Africa to P. l. melanochaita.

The following table is based on the classification of the species Panthera leo provided in Mammal Species of the World. It also reflects the classification used by IUCN Red List assessors and the revision by the Cat Classification Task Force:

North African lion (P. l. leo) (Linnaeus, 1758), syn. P. l. nubica (de Blainville, 1843), P. l. somaliensis (Noack, 1891).This is the nominate lion subspecies. In North Africa, lions are regionally extinct in the wild due to excessive hunting; the last known Barbary lion was killed in Morocco in 1942. Small groups of lions may have survived until the 1960s.
A few captive lions are likely from North Africa, particularly the 90 individuals descended from the Moroccan Royal collection at Rabat Zoo.It is genetically more closely related to the Asiatic lion than to lions in East and Southern Africa.

In Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, lions are regionally extinct.


Asiatic lion (P. l. leo)[31] formerly (P. l. persica) (Meyer, 1826)Today, the Asiatic lion population survives only in India's state of Gujarat and is listed as Endangered.Until the late 19th century, its historical range included eastern Turkey, Iran, the former Sind Province to Central India.[36]
The Indian population recovered from the brink of extinction to 411 individuals in 2010. It is protected in the Gir National Park and four protected areas in the region.

Results of phylogeographic studies suggest that its ancestors split from lions in Sub-Saharan Africa between 203 and 74 thousand years ago.Its closest relatives are North African and West African lions.

West African lion (P. l. leo) formerly (P. l. senegalensis) (Meyer, 1826), syn. P. l. kamptzi (Matschie, 1900) The type specimen originated in Senegal.
This population has been listed as Critically Endangered in 2015 and survives in West Africa from Senegal, Burkina Faso, Benin to Niger and Nigeria. It is possibly extinct in Mauritania, Mali, Ghana, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Togo.


The population occurs in the northeastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.It is locally extinct in Rwanda.

In East Africa, lion populations occur in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, but are regionally extinct in Djibouti, Egypt and Eritrea.
In Southern Africa lions occur in Namibia, Angola and northern Botswana. In the southwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, they are considered regionally extinct.