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lion

Also known as Panthera leo, African lion, the lion, Asiatic lion

The lion (Panthera leo) is a large cat of the genus Panthera, currently ranging only in Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult male lions are larger than females and have a prominent mane that which extends from the head to the shoulders and chest.

OverviewAI-generated

Panthera leo, commonly known as the lion, is a species within the genus Panthera. It is an instance of a taxon characterized by viviparity and carnivory. The organism produces a roar and follows a crepuscular diel cycle. Its original combination was Felis leo.

The IUCN Red List classifies the lion as Vulnerable, with this status recorded in 2025. It is also listed in Appendix I of CITES. The species has a gestation period of 108 days and a litter size of 2.5. Lactation lasts for 8 days, and the longest observed lifespan is 27 years.

The lion’s mass is 188, with a bite force quotient of 112. It is referenced by 3,724 other encyclopedia articles. PubMed contains 12,661 records for the query "lion." The Unicode character for the subject is 🦁.

Synthesized by Vinony from 27 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, PubMed, IUCN Red List, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Vulnerable

「狮子」重定向至此。關於与此名称相似的其他条目，詳見「狮子 (消歧义)」。印度古吉拉特邦的吉爾森林國家公園是300隻野生亞洲獅最後的棲息地獅在非洲的分佈母獅, 塞倫蓋提國家公園, 坦桑尼亞獅（學名：Panthera leo），俗稱獅子（古稱狻猊），被人稱為百獸之王。獅是一種生存在非洲和亞洲的大型猫科動物，豹屬之中最著名的一種，現存中是和老虎并列的两大猫科动物，其雄性的鬃毛是其特徵之一，過去牠分佈在多個洲，但因為人類的開發，現代的獅群生存環境與分佈已經大大縮小了。中國地區本來沒有獅子，直到張騫通西域以後，才從伊朗附近的地區知道獅子的存在。

via IUCN

Research

12,661 papers

Lion Localizer: A software tool for inferring the provenance of lions (Panthera leo) using mitochondrial DNA.The Journal of heredity · 2024Au WC, Dures SG, Ishida Y et al.DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esad072
Probable Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from African Lion to Zoo Employees, Indiana, USA, 2021.ReviewEmerging infectious diseases · 2023Siegrist AA, Richardson KL, Ghai RR et al.DOI: 10.3201/eid2906.230150
The Lion King and the Hyaena Queen: large carnivore interactions and coexistence.ReviewBiological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2015Périquet S, Fritz H, Revilla EDOI: 10.1111/brv.12152
Mycobacterium bovis infection in the lion (Panthera leo): Current knowledge, conundrums and research challenges.ReviewVeterinary microbiology · 2015Viljoen IM, van Helden PD, Millar RPDOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2015.03.028
Invasive ants stir up lion predation.Nature ecology & evolution · 2024Harold SDOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02351-6
Genomic analysis supports Cape Lion population connectivity prior to colonial eradication and extinction.The Journal of heredity · 2024de Flamingh A, Gnoske TP, Rivera-Colón AG et al.DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esad081
Deciphering the enigma of human-lion coexistence in India.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2025Gogoi K, Banerjee K, Chakrabarti S et al.DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14420
Lions.Current biology : CB · 2010Packer CDOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.05.003

via PubMed

~52 min read

Encyclopedic overview

34 sections

Contents

Etymology
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Fossil records
Evolution
Hybrids
Description
Size
Mane
Colour variation
Distribution and habitat
Historical range
Behaviour and ecology
Group organisation
Hunting and diet
Predatory competition
Reproduction and life cycle
Health and mortality
Communication
Conservation
In Africa
In Asia
Captive breeding
Interactions with humans
In zoos and circuses
Hunting and games
Man-eating
Cultural significance
See also
Notes
References
Citations
Books
External links

The lion inhabits grasslands, savannahs, and shrublands. It is an apex and keystone predator, preying mostly on medium-sized and large ungulates. It is usually more diurnal than other wild cats, but when persecuted, it adapts to being active at night and at twilight. It is a social species, forming groups called prides. A lion pride consists of related females and cubs, and a few or one adult male who is unrelated to the females. Groups of female lions usually hunt together. Adult males often compete to keep or gain their membership in the pride.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “lion” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.