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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.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5544261/Lions-tall-HUMANS-roamed-Kenya-200-000-years-ago.html

 

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