The lion's name, similar in many Romance languages, is derived from the Latin leo and the Ancient Greek λέων (leon).[10] The Hebrew word לָבִיא (lavi) may also be related. It was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus, who gave it the name Felis leo, in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae.
Taxonomy and evolution
The lion's closest relatives are the other species of the genus Panthera: the tiger, the jaguar, and the leopard. P. leo evolved in Africa between 1 million and 800,000 years ago, before spreading throughout the Holarctic region.[12] It appeared in the fossil record in Europe for the first time 700,000 years ago with the subspecies Panthera leo fossilis at Isernia in Italy. From this lion derived the later cave lion (Panthera leo spelaea), which appeared about 300,000 years ago.[13] Lions died out in northern Eurasia at the end of the last glaciation, about 10,000 years ago;[14] this may have been secondary to the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna.[15]
Subspecies
Traditionally, 12 recent subspecies of lion were recognised, distinguished by mane appearance, size, and distribution. Because these characteristics are very insignificant and show a high individual variability, most of these forms were probably not true subspecies, especially as they were often based upon zoo material of unknown origin that may have had "striking, but abnormal" morphological characteristics.[16] Today, only eight subspecies are usually accepted,[14][17] although one of these, the Cape lion, formerly described as Panthera leo melanochaita, probably is invalid.[17] Even the remaining seven subspecies might be too many. While the status of the Asiatic lion (P. l. persica) as a subspecies is generally accepted, the systematic relationships among African lions are still not completely resolved. Mitochondrial variation in living African lions seemed to be modest according to some newer studies, therefore all sub-Saharan lions sometimes have been considered a single subspecies. However, a recent study revealed lions from western and central Africa differ genetically from lions of southern or eastern Africa. According to this study, Western African lions are more closely related to Asian lions than to South or East African lions. These findings might be explained by a late Pleistocene extinction event of lions in western and central Africa and a subsequent recolonisation of these parts from Asia.[18] Previous studies, which were focused mainly on lions from eastern and southern parts of Africa, already showed these can be possibly divided in two main clades: one to the west of the Great Rift Valley and the other to the east. Lions from Tsavo in eastern Kenya are much closer genetically to lions in Transvaal (South Africa), than to those in the Aberdare Range in western Kenya.[19] Another study revealed there are three major types of lions, one North African–Asian, one southern African and one middle African.[20] Conversely, Per Christiansen found that using skull morphology allowed him to identify the subspecies krugeri, nubica, persica, and senegalensis, while there was overlap between bleyenberghi 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. He had analysed 58 lion skulls in three European museums.[21]
By far most lions, which are kept in zoos are hybrids of different subspecies. About 77% of the captive lions registered by the International Species Information System are of unknown origin. Nonetheless, they might carry genes, which are extinct in the wild and might be therefore important to maintain overall genetic variability of the lion.[22] It is believed, that those lions, which were imported to Europe until the middle of the 19th century, were mainly Barbary lions from North Africa or lions from the Cape.[23]
Recent
range map of the commonly accepted subspecies of the lion in the late 20th century
Eight recent (Holocene) subspecies are recognised today:
P. l. persica, known as the Asiatic lion or South Asian, Persian, or Indian lion, once was widespread from Turkey, across Southwest Asia, to Pakistan, India, and even to Bangladesh. However, large prides and daylight activity made them easier to poach than tigers or leopards;[24] now around 400 exist in and near the Gir Forest of India.[25] Genetic evidence suggests its ancestors split from the ancestors of sub-Saharan African lions between 203 and 74 thousand years ago.[14]
P. l. leo, known as the Barbary lion, originally ranged from Morocco to Egypt. It is extinct in the wild due to excessive hunting, as the last wild Barbary lion was killed in Morocco in 1922.[26] This was one of the largest of the lion subspecies,[27] with reported lengths of 3.0–3.3 m (9.8–10.8 ft) and weights of more than 200 kg (440 lb) for males. It appears to be more closely related to the Asiatic rather than sub-Saharan lions. A number of animals in captivity are likely to be Barbary lions,[28] particularly the 90 animals descended from the Moroccan Royal collection at Rabat Zoo.[29]
P. l. senegalensis, known as the West African lion, is found in western Africa, from Senegal to the Central African Republic.[30][31]
P. l. azandica, known as the northeast Congo Lion, is found in the northeastern parts of the Congo.[30]
P. l. nubica, known as the East African or Masai lion is found in East Africa, from Ethiopia and Kenya to Tanzania and Mozambique;[31] a local population is known as the Tsavo lion.
P. l. bleyenberghi, known as the southwest African or Katanga lion, is found in southwestern Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Katanga (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Zambia, and Zimbabwe.[31]
P. l. krugeri, known as the southeast African or Transvaal lion, is found in the Transvaal region of southeastern Africa, including Kruger National Park.[31]
P. l. melanochaita, known as the Cape lion, became extinct in the wild around 1860. Results of mitochondrial DNA research do not support its status as a distinct subspecies. The Cape lion probably was only the southernmost population of the extant P. l. krugeri.[17]
Pleistocene
Several additional subspecies of lion existed in prehistoric times:
P. l. fossilis, known as the Middle Pleistocene European cave lion, flourished about 500,000 years ago; fossils have been recovered from Germany and Italy. It was larger than today's African lions, reaching sizes comparable to the American cave lion and slightly larger than the Upper Pleistocene European cave lion.[14][32]
Cave lions in the Chauvet Cave, France
P. l. spelaea, known as the European cave lion, Eurasian cave lion, or Upper Pleistocene European cave lion, occurred in Eurasia 300,000 to 10,000 years ago.[14] This species is known from Paleolithic cave paintings, ivory carvings, and clay busts,[33] indicating it had protruding ears, tufted tails, perhaps faint tiger-like stripes, and at least some males had a ruff or primitive mane around their necks.[34]
P. l. atrox, known as the American lion or American cave lion, was abundant in the Americas from Canada to Peru in the Pleistocene Epoch until about 10,000 years ago. This form is the sister clade of P. l. spelaea, and likely arose when an early P. l. spelaea population became isolated south of the North American continental ice sheet about 0.34 Mya.[35] One of the largest purported lion subspecies to have existed, its body length is estimated to have been 1.6–2.5 m (5–8 ft).
Dubious
P. l. youngi or Panthera youngi, flourished 350,000 years ago.[5] Its relationship to the extant lion subspecies is obscure, and it probably represents a distinct species.
P. l. sinhaleyus, known as the Sri Lanka lion, appears to have become extinct around 39,000 years ago. It is only known from two teeth found in deposits at Kuruwita. Based on these teeth, P. Deraniyagala erected this subspecies in 1939.[37]
P. l. vereshchagini, the Beringian cave lion of Yakutia (Russia), Alaska (USA), and the Yukon Territory (Canada), has been considered a subspecies separate from P. l. spelaea on morphological grounds. However, mitochondrial DNA sequences obtained from cave lion fossils from Europe and Alaska were indistinguishable.[35]
P. l. europaea, known as the European lion, was probably identical with Panthera leo persica or Panthera leo spelea; its status as a subspecies is unconfirmed. It became extinct around 100 AD due to persecution and over-exploitation. It inhabited the Balkans, the Italian Peninsula, southern France, and the Iberian Peninsula. It was a very popular object of hunting among ancient Romans and Greeks.
P. l. maculatus, known as the marozi or spotted lion, sometimes is believed to be a distinct subspecies, but may be an adult lion that has retained its juvenile spotted pattern. If it was a subspecies in its own right, rather than a small number of aberrantly coloured individuals, it has been extinct since 1931. A less likely identity is a natural leopard-lion hybrid commonly known as a leopon
Hybrids
Further information: Panthera hybrid, Liger, and Tiglon
Video of lion cubs in the wild, South Africa
Lions have been known to breed with tigers (most often the Siberian and Bengal subspecies) to create hybrids called ligers and tiglons (or tigons). They also have been crossed with leopards to produce leopons, and jaguars to produce jaglions. The marozi is reputedly a spotted lion or a naturally occurring leopon, while the Congolese spotted lion is a complex lion-jaguar-leopard hybrid called a lijagulep. Such hybrids were once commonly bred in zoos, but this is now discouraged due to the emphasis on conserving species and subspecies. Hybrids are still bred in private menageries and in zoos in China.
The liger is a cross between a male lion and a tigress. Because the growth-inhibiting gene from the female tiger is absent, a growth-promoting gene is passed on by the male lion, the resulting ligers grow far larger than either parent. They share physical and behavioural qualities of both parent species (spots and stripes on a sandy background). Male ligers are sterile, but female ligers are often fertile. Males have about a 50% chance of having a mane, but if they grow them, their manes will be modest: around 50% the size of a pure lion mane. Ligers are typically 3.0 to 3.7 m (10 to 12 feet) in length, and can weigh 360 to 450 kg (800 to 1,000 pounds).[41] The less common tiglon or tigon is a cross between a lioness and a male tiger.In contrast to ligers, tigons are often relatively small in comparison to their parents, because of reciprocal gene effects.
P. l. leo หรือที่รู้จักกันในชื่อสิงโตบาร์บารี เดิมมีการกระจายพันธุ์จากประเทศโมร็อกโกถึงประเทศอียิปต์ ปัจจุบันสูญพันธุ์ไปจากธรรมชาติจากการถูกล่าอย่างหนัก สิงโตบาร์บารีตัวสุดท้ายถูกฆ่าตายในประเทศโมร็อกโกในปี ค.ศ. 1922[16] เป็นสิงโตชนิดย่อยที่มีขนาดใหญ่มากชนิดหนึ่ง[17] มีรายงานว่ายาว 3–3.3 เมตร (10–10.8 ฟุต) และหนักมากกว่า 200 กก. (440 ปอนด์) ในเพศผู้ มีความสัมพันธ์ใกล้ชิดกับสิงโตเอเชียมากกว่าสิงโตแอฟริกา มีสิงโตจำนวนหนึ่งในกรงเลี้ยงที่อาจจะเป็นสิงโตบาร์บารี[18] โดยเฉพาะอย่างยิ่งสิงโต 90 ตัวที่ได้รับสืบทอดมาจากราชวงศ์โมร็อกโกที่สวนสัตว์ราบัต (Rabat)[19]
P. l. senegalensis หรือที่รู้จักกันในชื่อสิงโตแอฟริกาตะวันตกพบในทางตะวันตกของแอฟริกาจากประเทศเซเนกัลถึงประเทศไนจีเรีย[20]
P. l. azandica หรือที่รู้จักกันในชื่อสิงโตคองโกตะวันออกเฉียงเหนือพบในบริเวณตะวันออกเฉียงเหนือของคองโก
P. l. nubica หรือที่รู้จักกันในชื่อสิงโตแอฟริกาตะวันออก สิงโตมาไซ หรือสิงโตซาโว พบทางตะวันออกของแอฟริกาจากประเทศเอธิโอเปียและประเทศเคนยาถึงประเทศแทนซาเนียและประเทศโมซัมบิก[20]
P. l. bleyenberghi หรือที่รู้จักกันในชื่อสิงโตแอฟริกาตะวันตกเฉียงใต้ หรือสิงโตกาตองกา พบในทางตะวันตกเฉียงใต้ของแอฟริกา ประเทศนามิเบีย ประเทศบอตสวานา ประเทศแองโกลา กาตองกา (ซาเอียร์) ประเทศแซมเบีย และประเทศซิมบับเว[20]
P. l. krugeri หรือที่รู้จักกันในชื่อสิงโตแอฟริกาตะวันออกเฉียงใต้ หรือ สิงโตทรานเวล พบในบริเวณทรานเวลของแอฟริกาตะวันออกเฉียงใต้รวมถึงอุทยานแห่งชาติครูเกอร์[20]
P. l. melanochaita หรือที่รู้จักกันในชื่อสิงโตแหลมกูดโฮพ สูญพันธุ์จากธรรมชาติราวปี ค.ศ. 1860 ผลจากการวิจัยไมโทคอนเดรีย DNA พบว่าไม่ควรแยกสิงโตแหลมกูดโฮพออกมาเป็นชนิดย่อย อาจเป็นไปได้ว่าสิงโตแหลมกูดโฮพเป็นประชากรที่อยู่ใต้สุดของการกระจายพันธุ์ ของสิงโตชนิดย่อย P. l. krugeri[11]
P. l. atrox หรือที่รู้จักกันในชื่อสิงโตอเมริกาหรือสิงโตถ้ำอเมริกา กระจายพันธุ์ในทวีปอเมริกาจากประเทศแคนาดาถึงประเทศเปรูใน สมัยไพลสโตซีนจนกระทั่งราว 10,000 ปีมาแล้ว ชนิดย่อยนี้บางครั้งได้รับการพิจารณาเป็นตัวแทนที่แยกจากกันของชนิด เป็นสัตว์สปีชีส์อื่นที่ไม่ใช่สิงโต แต่การศึกษาถึงวิวัฒนาการแสดงว่าแท้จริงแล้วมันคือชนิดย่อยของสิงโต (Panthera leo) เป็นสิงโตขนาดใหญ่ ลำตัวยาวประมาณ 1.6–2.5 ม. (5–8 ฟุต)
P. l. fossilis หรือที่รู้จักกันในชื่อสิงโตถ้ำไพลสโตซีนต้นตอนกลาง มีชีวิตอยู่เมื่อประมาณ 500,000 ปีมาแล้ว ค้นพบซากดึกดำบรรพ์ที่ประเทศเยอรมนีและประเทศอิตาลี มีขนาดใหญ่กว่าสิงโตแอฟริกาในปัจจุบัน ขนาดใกล้เคียงกับสิงโตถ้ำอเมริกา
