Editing Lion (section)

===Subspecies===
In the 19th and 20th centuries, several lion [[type specimen]]s were described and proposed as [[subspecies]], with about a dozen recognised as [[Valid name (zoology)|valid]] [[Taxon|taxa]] until 2017.<ref name=MSW3/> Between 2008 and 2016, [[IUCN Red List]] assessors used only two subspecific names: ''P. l. leo'' for African lion populations, and ''P. l. persica'' for the Asiatic lion population.<ref name=IUCN/><ref name=Breitenmoser2008>{{cite iucn |author=Breitenmoser, U. |author2=Mallon, D. P. |author3=Ahmad Khan, J. |author4=Driscoll, C.  |date=2008 |page=e.T15952A5327221 |title=''Panthera leo'' ssp. ''persica'' |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T15952A5327221.en}}</ref><ref name=Henschel2015>{{cite iucn |author=Henschel, P. |author2=Bauer, H. |author3=Sogbohoussou, E. |author4=Nowell, K.  |date=2015 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T68933833A54067639.en |title=''Panthera leo'' West Africa subpopulation}}</ref> In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group revised lion [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]], and recognises two subspecies based on results of several [[phylogeographic]] studies on lion [[evolution]], namely:<ref name=catsg>{{cite journal |author1=Kitchener, A. C. |author2=Breitenmoser-Würsten, C. |author3=Eizirik, E. |author4=Gentry, A. |author5=Werdelin, L. |author6=Wilting, A. |author7=Yamaguchi, N. |author8=Abramov, A. V. |author9=Christiansen, P. |author10=Driscoll, C. |author11=Duckworth, J. W. |author12=Johnson, W. |author13=Luo, S.-J. |author14=Meijaard, E. |author15=O'Donoghue, P. |author16=Sanderson, J. |author17=Seymour, K. |author18=Bruford, M. |author19=Groves, C. |author20=Hoffmann, M. |author21=Nowell, K. |author22=Timmons, Z. |author23=Tobe, S.  |year=2017 |title=A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group |journal=Cat News |volume=Special Issue 11 |pages=71–73 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=71 |access-date=6 August 2019 |archive-date=17 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200117172708/https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=71 |url-status=live}}</ref>

*[[Panthera leo leo|''P. l. leo'']] {{small|(Linnaeus, 1758)}} − the [[Nominate subspecies|nominate]] lion subspecies includes the [[Asiatic lion]], the [[Locally extinct|regionally extinct]] [[Barbary lion]], and lion populations in West and northern parts of Central Africa.<ref name=catsg/> [[Synonym (taxonomy)|Synonyms]] include ''P. l. persica'' {{small|(Meyer, 1826)}}, ''P. l. senegalensis'' {{small|(Meyer, 1826)}}, ''P. l. kamptzi'' {{small|([[Paul Matschie|Matschie]], 1900)}}, and ''P. l. azandica'' {{small|([[Joel Asaph Allen|Allen]], 1924)}}.<ref name=MSW3/> It has been called 'northern lion' and 'northern subspecies'.<ref name=Wood1865>{{cite book |last=Wood |first=J. G. |author-link=John George Wood |title=The Illustrated Natural History |volume=((Mammalia, Volume 1)) |publisher=[[Routledge]] |chapter=Felidæ; or the Cat Tribe |pages=129−148 |location=London |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1DPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA147 |year=1865 |access-date=23 December 2018 |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505150653/https://books.google.com/books?id=v1DPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA147#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Hunter2018>{{cite book |last1=Hunter |first1=L. |last2=Barrett |first2=P.  |title=The Field Guide to Carnivores of the World |edition=Second |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London, Oxford, New York, New Delhi, Sydney |isbn=978-1-4729-5080-2 |date=2018 |chapter=Lion ''Panthera leo'' |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4HpxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |pages=46−47 |access-date=1 December 2018 |archive-date=5 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305201610/https://books.google.com/books?id=4HpxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[Panthera leo melanochaita|''P. l. melanochaita'']] {{small|([[Charles Hamilton Smith|Smith]], 1842)}} − includes the extinct [[Cape lion]] and lion populations in East and Southern African regions.<ref name=catsg/> Synonyms include ''P. l. somaliensis'' {{small|(Noack 1891)}}, ''P. l. massaica'' {{small|([[Oscar Neumann|Neumann]], 1900)}}, ''P. l. sabakiensis'' {{small|([[Einar Lönnberg|Lönnberg]], 1910)}}, ''P. l. bleyenberghi'' {{small|(Lönnberg, 1914)}}, ''P. l. roosevelti'' {{small|([[Edmund Heller|Heller]], 1914)}}, ''P. l. nyanzae'' {{small|(Heller, 1914)}}, ''P. l. hollisteri'' {{small|([[Joel Asaph Allen|Allen]], 1924)}}, ''P. l. krugeri'' {{small|([[Austin Roberts (zoologist)|Roberts]], 1929)}}, ''P. l. vernayi'' {{small|(Roberts, 1948)}}, and ''P. l. webbiensis'' {{small|(Zukowsky, 1964)}}.<ref name=MSW3 /><ref name=Hemmer/> It has been referred to as 'southern subspecies' and 'southern lion'.<ref name=Hunter2018/>

However, there seems to be some degree of overlap between both groups in northern Central Africa. DNA analysis from a more recent study indicates that Central African lions are derived from both northern and southern lions, as they cluster with ''P. leo leo'' in mtDNA-based phylogenies whereas their genomic DNA indicates a closer relationship with P. ''leo melanochaita''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=de Manuel |first1=M. |last2=Barnett |first2=R.|last3=Sandoval-Velasco |first3=M. |last4=Yamaguchi |first4=N. |last5=Vieira |first5=F. G. |last6=Mendoza |first6=M. L. Z. |last7=Liu |first7=S. |last8=Martin |first8=M. D. |last9=Sinding |first9=M-S. S. |last10=Mak |first10=S. S. T. |last11=Carøe |first11=C. |last12=Liu |first12=S. |last13=Guo |first13=C. |last14=Zheng |first14=J. |last15=Zazula |first15=G. |last16=Baryshnikov |first16=G. |last17=Eizirik |first17=E. |last18=Koepfli |first18=K.-P. |last19=Johnson |first19=W. E. |last20=Antunes |first20=A. |last21=Sicheritz-Ponten |first21=T. |last22=Gopalakrishnan |first22=S. |last23=Larson |first23=G. |last24=Yang |first24=H. |last25=O'Brien |first25=S. J. |last26=Hansen |first26=A. J. |last27=Zhang |first27=G. |last28=Marques-Bonet |first28=T. |last29=Gilbert |first29=M. T. P. |date=2020 |title=The evolutionary history of extinct and living lions |journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=117 |issue=20 |pages=10927–10934 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1919423117 |pmid= 32366643 |pmc=7245068 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11710927D |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Lion samples from some parts of the [[Ethiopian Highlands]] cluster genetically with those from Cameroon and Chad, while lions from other areas of Ethiopia cluster with samples from East Africa. Researchers, therefore, assume Ethiopia is a contact zone between the two subspecies.<ref name=Bertola2016>{{cite journal |author1=Bertola, L. D. |author2=Jongbloed, H. |author3=Van Der Gaag, K. J. |author4=De Knijff, P. |author5=Yamaguchi, N. |author6=Hooghiemstra, H. |author7=Bauer, H. |author8=Henschel, P. |author9=White, P. A. |author10=Driscoll, C. A. |author11=Tende, T. |author12=Ottosson, U. |author13=Saidu, Y. |author14=Vrieling, K. |author15=de Iongh, H. H. |year=2016 |title=Phylogeographic patterns in Africa and High Resolution Delineation of genetic clades in the Lion (''Panthera leo'') |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=6 |page=30807 |doi=10.1038/srep30807 |pmid=27488946 |pmc=4973251  |bibcode=2016NatSR...630807B}}</ref> [[Genome]]-wide data of a wild-born historical lion sample from Sudan showed that it clustered with ''P. l. leo'' in mtDNA-based phylogenies, but with a high affinity to ''P. l. melanochaita''; this suggested that the taxonomic position of lions in Central Africa may require revision.<ref name=DeManuel_al2020>{{cite journal |author1=de Manuel, M. |author2=Ross, B. |author3=Sandoval-Velasco, M. |author4=Yamaguchi, N. |author5=Vieira, F. G. |author6=Mendoza, M. L. Z. |author7=Liu, S. |author8=Martin, M. D. |author9=Sinding, M.-H. S. |author10=Mak, S. S. T. |author11=Carøe, C. |author12=Liu, S. |author13=Guo, C. |author14=Zheng, J. |author15=Zazula, G. |author16=Baryshnikov, G. |author17=Eizirik, E. |author18=Koepfli, K.-P. |author19=Johnson, W. E. |author20=Antunes, A. |author21=Sicheritz-Ponten, T.  |author22=Gopalakrishnan, S. |author23=Larson, G. |author24=Yang, H. |author25=O'Brien, S. J. |author26=Hansen, A. J. |author27=Zhang, G. |author28=Marques-Bonet, T. |author29=Gilbert, M. T. P. |title=The evolutionary history of extinct and living lions |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |volume=117 |issue=20 |pages=10927–10934 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1919423117 |year=2020 |pmid=32366643 |pmc=7245068 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11710927D |doi-access=free}}</ref>