Scientific Name Of Lion: Characteristics & Life-Cycle

Scientific name of the lion is Panthera leo. Lions originated from Africa and India. They are cat-like, social animals that prefer to live in groups. The group of lions are called Pride. These prides consist of few males, related female lions and their cubs. The word ‘lion’ has been derived from the Anglo-Norman term ‘liun’, which originated from the Latin word ‘leōnem’. Lions can be considered as the most recognised animal symbol in the history of mankind.

Key Terms: Lion, pride, conservation, taxonomy of lion, scientific name of lion.

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Taxonomy Of Lion

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Carl Linnaeus in 1758, described the lions with the scientific name of Felis leo at first. Finally, the name Panthera Leo was given by Lorenz Oken in 1816. Here are the taxonomic details of lion.

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Characteristics Of Lion

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The lion does not have any types but two subtypes only. They are- African Lion (Panthera leo leo) and Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica). Here are the common characteristics of the lions-

• Lions are large, muscular and broad chested animals.
• They are long-tailed with the length of 72-90cm.
• Lions are sexually dimorphic as the male and female lions have different characteristics.
• Lions live and hunt in groups that are called Pride.
• They follow a complex hierarchy in pride.
• Adult male lion weighs up to 190 kg.
• It takes only 2 years for an male lion to reach maturity.
• The usual lifespan of the lion is 8-10 years for the male and 15-16 years for the female.

Pride of Lion

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Life Cycle Of The Lion

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The lion’s life cycle includes three phases- the mating phase, juvenile phase and adult phase.

Mating Phase

Female lions have irregular reproductive cycles. Once pregnant, these female lions take around 108 days as the gestation period. Following the gestation period, they give birth to 1 to 6 cubs.

Juvenile Phase

The lion cubs are born blind. They also have black spots on their thick furred body that vanishes with the time. They gain their vision as they grow up. Before that, they are completely dependent upon their mother (Usually up to 2 years of age). 

Adult Phase

Lion cubs take 3 to 4 years to mature completely. All male lion cubs must leave the pride by 3 years of age. 

The Size Chart of Lion

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Conservation Of Lion

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Lions are placed in the list of endangered species as per the Endangered Species Act in December 2015.

Here are the needs for the conservation of lion-

Need For Conservation:

Only 20,000 to 30,000 lions are left, Worldwide. There are three basic reasons for why they need to be conserved.

1. The numbers of the lions are dropping continuously as they are losing their natural habitat due to the overpopulation of the human beings.
2. The hunters are always targeting the lions.
3. The pollution and ecological imbalance is another cause that they need conservation.

Way For Conservation:

Here are the possible ways to conserve the lions- 

• Awareness programs need to be arranged.
• The volunteers need to mark the habitat areas and make the area safe from lion breeding.
• Stop the poachers.
• And most importantly, the extensive captive breeding programs needed to be arranged.

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Things To Remember

• Scientific name of the lion is Panthera leo.
• There are two subtypes of Lions- The African Lion (Panthera leo leo) and Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica).
• Number of lions worldwide is around 20,000 to 30,000 only.
• Lions live and hunt in Pride.
• The life cycle of the lion includes three phases- the mating phase, Juvenile phase and adult phase.

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Important PYQs Related to This Chapter

1. The scientist widely regarded as the triple crown of biology… (AMUEEE 2015)
2. Evolutionary history of an organism is known as…(NEET 2006)
3. Reason of diversity in living beings is… (NEET 2001)
4. The living organisms can be unexceptionally distinguished from… (NEET 1998)
5. Rauwolfia - serpentina belongs to… (KCET 2007)
6. Edaphology is… (KCET 2007)
7. Read the statements given below and identify the incorrect statement… (KCET 2012)
8. Which of the following taxonomic categories of housefly is… (KEAM)
9. Which one of the following is not a characteristic of phylum Annelida?... (NEET 2008)
10. Which one occurs in echinodermata?... (NEET 1991)
11. An insect regarded as the greatest mechanical carrier of diseases is… (NEET 1991)
12. Metamorphosis of insects is regulated through hormone…(NEET 1991)
13. Classification of Porifera is based on… (NEET 1991)
14. The neurogenic heart is the characteristic feature of… (NEET 1995)
15. Typhlops are… (NEET 1998)

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