Cape lion

Cape Lion
Only known photo of a live Cape lion, ca. 1860, Jardin des Plantes, Paris
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Genus: Panthera
Species: P. leo
Subspecies: P. l. melanochaitus
Trinomial name
Panthera leo melanochaitus
(Ch. H. Smith, 1842[1] 1858[2])
Synonyms

Panthera leo capensis

The Cape lion was a lion population in South Africa, which was considered a subspecies with the taxonomic name Panthera leo melanochaitus.[1] Phylogeographic analysis showed it to be closely related to other lion populations in Southern and East Africa.[3][4] In 2017, a Cat Classification Taskforce of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group subsumed the populations in Southern and East Africa under the trinomen Panthera leo melanochaita.[5]

Taxonomy

In 1842, a black-maned lion specimen from the Cape of Good Hope was described and named Felis (Leo) melanochaitus.[6] In the 19th century, naturalists and hunters recognised it as a distinct subspecies because of this dark mane colour.[1] In the 20th century, some authors supported this view of the Cape lion being a distinct subspecies.[7][8] Vratislav Mazák hypothesized that it evolved geographically isolated from other populations by the Great Escarpment.[1]

This theory was questioned in the early 21st century. Genetic exchanges between lion populations in the Cape, Kalahari, Transvaal regions and farther east are considered having been possible through a corridor between the escarpment and the Indian ocean.[3] Results of phylogeographic studies support this notion of lions in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa being genetically close.[9][10] Based on the analysis of samples from 357 lions from 10 countries, it is thought that lions migrated from Southern to East Africa during the Pleistocene and Holocene.[9] Analysis of 194 lion samples from 22 different countries suggest that populations in Southern and East Africa are distinct from populations in West and North Africa and Asia.[10] In 2017, lion populations in Southern and EastAfrica were subsumed under P. l. melanochaita.[5]

Characteristics

1927 engraving.
Drawing by Rembrandt.

The type specimen of the Cape lion was described as very large with black-edged ears and a black mane extending beyond the shoulders and having black hair under the belly.[6] Skulls of two lion specimen in the British Natural History Museum from the Orange River basin were described as a little shorter in the occipital regions than other lions in South Africa and with a tendency to develop the second lower premolar.[1]

American zoologist Edmund Heller described the Cape lion's skull as longer than those of equatorial lions, by at least 1.0 in (25 mm) on average, despite being comparatively narrow. He considered the Cape lion to have been one of the biggest cats to have existed in recent times.[11] Lions approaching 272 kg (600 lb) were shot south of the Vaal River.[12]

Results of a long-term study indicate that the colour of lion manes is influenced by climatic variables and varies between individuals. Manes are darker and longer in cool seasons.[13]

Distribution and habitat

A 1739 advert by Charles Benjamin Incledon featuring feliforms: the Mesopotamian lion from the vicinity of Bassorah, Cape lion, tiger from the East Indies, panther from Buenos Aires, Hyaena hyaena from West Africa, and leopard from Turkey, besides a "Man tyger" from Africa.

The lion population in the south-western part of South Africa's Cape Province and Natal is locally extinct since the 1850s to late 1860s. The last lions south of the Orange River were sighted between 1850 and 1858.[1] Elsewhere in Southern Africa, lions are confined to 23 unfenced and 16 fenced reserves; 10 of the fenced reserves are located in South Africa.[14]

Ecology and behaviour

Lions prefer to hunt large ungulates including zebras, warthogs, blue wildebeest, impalas, gemsbok, Thomson's gazelles, kobs, giraffes and buffaloes. They predominately hunt prey in the range of 40.0 to 251.0 kg (88.2 to 553.4 lb).[15]

In captivity

In 2000, specimens asserted to be descendants of Cape lions were found in captivity in Russia, and two of them were brought to South Africa. South African zoo director John Spence reportedly was long fascinated by stories of these grand lions scaling the walls of Jan van Riebeeck's castle in the 17th century. He studied van Riebeeck's journals to discern Cape lions' features, which include a long black mane, black in their ears, and larger size. He believed some Cape lions might have been taken to Europe and interbred with other lions. His 30-year search led to his discovery of black-maned lions closely resembling Cape lions at the Novosibirsk Zoo in Siberia, in 2000.[16][17] Besides having a black mane, the specimen that attracted Spence had a "wide face and sturdy legs." Novosibirsk Zoo's population, which had 40 cubs over a 30-year period, continues, and Spence was allowed to bring two cubs back to Tygerberg Zoo. Back in South Africa, Spence explained that he hoped to breed lions that at least looked like Cape lions, and also hoped to have DNA testing done to establish whether the cubs were descendants.[18] Spence died in 2010 and the zoo closed in 2012, with the lions expected to go to Drakenstein Lion Park.[19]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mazak, V. (1975). "Notes on the Black-maned Lion of the Cape, Panthera leo melanochaita (Ch. H. Smith, 1842) and a Revised List of the Preserved Specimens". Verhandelingen Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (64): 1–44.
  2. ↑ Wozencraft, W.C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 546. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  3. 1 2 Yamaguchi, N. (2000). The Barbary lion and the Cape lion: their phylogenetic places and conservation. African Lion Working Group News 1: 9–11.
  4. ↑ Barnett, R., Yamaguchi, N.; Barnes, I.; Cooper, A. (2006). "Lost populations and preserving genetic diversity in the lion Panthera leo: Implications for its ex situ conservation" (PDF). Conservation Genetics. 7 (4): 507–514. doi:10.1007/s10592-005-9062-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-24.
  5. 1 2 Kitchener, A.C., Breitenmoser-Würsten, C., Eizirik, E., Gentry, A., Werdelin, L., Wilting, A. and Yamaguchi, N. (2017). "A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group" (PDF). Cat News. Special Issue 11: 76.
  6. 1 2 Smith, C.H. (1842). "Black maned lion Leo melanochaitus". In Jardine, W. The Naturalist's Library. Vol. 15 Mammalia. London: Chatto and Windus. p. Plate X, 177.
  7. ↑ Lundholm, B. (1952). "A skull of a Cape lioness (Felis leo melanochaitus H. Smith". Annals of the Transvaal Museum (32): 21–24.
  8. ↑ Stevenson-Hamilton, J. (1954). "Specimen of the extinct Cape lion". African Wildlife (8): 187–189.
  9. 1 2 Antunes, A.; Troyer, J. L.; Roelke, M. E.; Pecon-Slattery, J.; Packer, C.; Winterbach, C.; Winterbach, H.; Johnson, W. E. (2008). "The Evolutionary Dynamics of the Lion Panthera leo Revealed by Host and Viral Population Genomics". PLoS Genetics. 4 (11): e1000251. PMC 2572142 Freely accessible. PMID 18989457. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000251.
  10. 1 2 Bertola, L. D.; Van Hooft, W. F.; Vrieling, K.; Uit De Weerd, D. R.; York, D. S.; Bauer, H.; Prins, H. H. T.; Funston, P. J.; Udo De Haes, H. A.; Leirs, H.; Van Haeringen, W. A.; Sogbohossou, E.; Tumenta, P. N.; De Iongh, H. H. (2011). "Genetic diversity, evolutionary history and implications for conservation of the lion (Panthera leo) in West and Central Africa". Journal of Biogeography. 38 (7): 1356–1367. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02500.x.
  11. ↑ Heller, E. (1913). New races of carnivores and baboons from equatorial Africa and Abyssinia Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 61(19): 1–12.
  12. ↑ Pease, A. E. (1913). The Book of the Lion John Murray, London.
  13. ↑ West P.M.; Packer C. (2002). "Sexual Selection, Temperature, and the Lion's Mane". Science. 297 (5585): 1339–1343. PMID 12193785. doi:10.1126/science.1073257.
  14. ↑ Bauer, H.; Packer, C.; Funston, P.F.; Henschel, P. & Nowell, K. (2015). "Panthera leo". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2017-1. International Union for Conservation of Nature.
  15. ↑ Hayward, M.W. and Kerley, G.I. (2005). Prey preferences of the lion (Panthera leo). Journal of Zoology 267(3): 309–322.
  16. ↑ BBC News (2000). 'Extinct' lions (Cape lion) surface in Siberia. Retrieved on 2012-12-31.
  17. ↑ "Лев". Sibzoo.narod.ru. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
  18. ↑ "South Africa: Lion Cubs Thought to Be Cape Lions". AP Archive. 2000. (with 2-minute video of cubs at zoo with John Spence, 3 sound-bites, and 15 photos)
  19. ↑ Davis, R. (2012). "We lost a zoo: Western Cape's only zoo closes". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2015-03-30.
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