Panthera leo

Order: Carnivora > Family: Felidae > Genus: Panthera > Species: Panthera leo

Common Name: Lion [English]

Type Description

Syst. Nat., 10th ed., 1:41.

Type Locality

'Africa', restricted by J. A. Allen (1924:222) to 'the Barbary coast region of Africa, or, more explicitly, Constantine, Algeria'.

Measurements

Total length: 2380-3280 mm
Head and body: 1580-2500 mm
Tail length: 610-1000 mm
Weight: 122-238 kg

Description

Males have manes (but not always) and look for the tufted tail and black markings on the backs of the ears on both sexes.

Distribution

Distributed over a fragmented range south of the Sahara within reserves and national parks, Panthera leo can be found in all vegetation types except most extensive forests and dry deserts. (Kingdon, 1989, 1997)

Key References

1. Kingdon, J. 1989. East African mammals: An atlas of evolution in Africa. (Carnivores). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 3A:366-395. 2. Kingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon field guide to African mammals, AP Natural World Academic Press, Harcourt Brace & Company, San Diego, p. 284-285.
3. Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World. Sixth ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1:793-796, 821-824, 832-834.