Panthera leo ssp. nov. 'Gigantic lion'
Gigantic lion
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: Middle Pleistocene (Manthi et al., 2017)
May have survived until the Late Pleistocene (Manthi et al. 2017). In either case the reason for it's extinction can only be guessed at. Given the persistence of the African lion today, it seems unlikely that early humans would have driven it to extinction, at least alone.
Distribution
Kenya
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Lemoine, Rhys Taylor, Buitenwerf, Robert, Faurby, Sören and Svenning, Jens-Christian. (2025). Phylogenetic Evidence Supports the Effect of Traits on Late-Quaternary Megafauna Extinction in the Context of Human Activity. Global Ecology and Biogeography 34(7): e70078. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.70078 [Supporting Information: Data S1]
Manthi, Fredrick K., Brown, Francis H. Plavcan, Michael J. and Werdelin, Lars. (2018). Gigantic lion, Panthera leo, from the Pleistocene of Natodomeri, eastern Africa. Journal of Paleontology 92(2): 305-312.