Lions are the second-largest cats in the world, after tigers. Known as the "king of beasts" or "king of the jungle," these regal felines once roamed Africa, Asia and Europe, but now only live in parts of Africa and India.
Experts have long recognized two subspecies of lion, Panthera leo leo (the African lion) and Panthera leo persica (the Asiatic lion). However, recent studies suggest that lions from West and Central Africa are more closely related to Asian lions than they are to lions from the eastern and southern parts of Africa, according to the Cat Specialist Group, a component of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In 2017, the Cat Specialist Group into two new subspecies: Panthera leo leo (also called the Northern subspecies) and Panthera leo melanochaita (the Southern subspecies).
Panthera leo leo includes lion populations in Central Africa, West Africa (West African or Senegal lion), India (Asiatic lion) and extinct populations previously found in North Africa (Barbary lion), southeastern Europe, the Middle East, the Arabian peninsula and southwestern Asia. Panthera leo melanochaita includes lion populations from southern parts of Africa (Katanga lion and the Southeast African lion) and East Africa (Masai lion and Ethiopian lion).
Although the West African and Asiatic lions are genetically similar, many of their physical characteristics and behaviors are slightly different.
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