Cape lion

Cape lion
Male at Jardin des plantes, Paris circa 1860
Male at Jardin des plantes, Paris circa 1860
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Pantherinae
Genus: Panthera
Species: P. leo
Subspecies: P. l. melanochaita
Population: †Cape lion

The Cape lion was a population of lions in South Africa's Natal and Cape Provinces that was extirpated in the mid-19th century.[1][2] The type specimen originated at the Cape of Good Hope and was described in 1842.[3]

Traditionally, the Cape lion was considered a distinct subspecies of lion, Panthera leo melanochaita.[4][5] However, phylogeographic analysis has shown that lion populations in Southern and East Africa are closely related.[6][7] In 2017, the subspecies Panthera leo melanochaita was recircumscribed to include all lion populations in Southern and East Africa.[8] Genetic analysis published in 2023 suggests that Cape lions were not particularly distinctive from other Southern African lion populations.[9]

  1. ^ Mazak, V. (1975). "Notes on the Black-maned Lion of the Cape, Panthera leo melanochaita (Ch. H. Smith, 1842) and a Revised List of the Preserved Specimens". Verhandelingen Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (64): 1–44. ISBN 0-7204-8289-5.
  2. ^ Bauer, H.; Packer, C.; Funston, P.F.; Henschel, P. & Nowell, K. (2015). "Panthera leo". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015.
  3. ^ Smith, C.H. (1842). "Black maned lion Leo melanochaita". In Jardine, W. (ed.). The Naturalist's Library. Vol. 15. Mammalia. London: Chatto and Windus. p. Plate X, 177.
  4. ^ Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Panthera leo". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 546. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  5. ^ Nowell, K.; Jackson, P. (1996). "Panthera leo" (PDF). Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. pp. 17–21, 37–41. ISBN 978-2-8317-0045-8.
  6. ^ Yamaguchi, N. (2000). "The Barbary lion and the Cape lion: their phylogenetic places and conservation" (PDF). 1. African Lion Working Group News: 9–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-08-18. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ Barnett, R.; Yamaguchi, N.; Barnes, I.; Cooper, A. (2006). "Lost populations and preserving genetic diversity in the lion Panthera leo: Implications for its ex situ conservation" (PDF). Conservation Genetics. 7 (4): 507–514. Bibcode:2006ConG....7..507B. doi:10.1007/s10592-005-9062-0. S2CID 24190889. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-24.
  8. ^ Kitchener, A. C.; Breitenmoser-Würsten, C.; Eizirik, E.; Gentry, A.; Werdelin, L.; Wilting, A.; Yamaguchi, N.; Abramov, A. V.; Christiansen, P.; Driscoll, C.; Duckworth, J. W.; Johnson, W.; Luo, S.-J.; Meijaard, E.; O’Donoghue, P.; Sanderson, J.; Seymour, K.; Bruford, M.; Groves, C.; Hoffmann, M.; Nowell, K.; Timmons, Z.; Tobe, S. (2017). "A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group" (PDF). Cat News (Special Issue 11). ISSN 1027-2992.
  9. ^ de Flamingh, Alida; Gnoske, Thomas P; Rivera-Colón, Angel G; Simeonovski, Velizar A; Kerbis Peterhans, Julian C; Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki; Witt, Kelsey E; Catchen, Julian; Roca, Alfred L; Malhi, Ripan Singh (2024-03-13). Murphy, William (ed.). "Genomic analysis supports Cape Lion population connectivity prior to colonial eradication and extinction". Journal of Heredity. 115 (2): 155–165. doi:10.1093/jhered/esad081. ISSN 0022-1503. PMID 38150491.