Lions are social animals that hunt and live in groups called prides. The males have little parental investment toward the cubs, and males may even commit infanticide against suckling cubs that are not their own. There is usually fierce competition for food because successful hunts are rare and members of the pride tend to gorge themselves when food is available. The ruling male lion will eat his fill, and then the other males, females, and finally the cubs. The competition for food contributes to the high mortality rate of the cubs.
The lion (Panthera leo) is the largest wild cat in Africa, yet populations of the ‘king of the jungle’ have dramatically declined by nearly half in just two decades. Historically lions occurred in sub-Saharan Africa as well as from northern Africa into southwest Asia and Europe. However only a remnant population remains in India and the present day populations only occur in sub-Saharan Africa.
Unique among all wild cats, lions have a social structure as opposed to a solitary lifestyle; and males differ from females with large manes, whereas males and females of other wild cats look very similar.
The scientific name for lion is Panthera leo which is also known as the lion binomial name, lion species name, lion latin name, lion biological name and lion zoological name. Some call it the lion botanical name however that term is applicable to the plant kingdom (botany) and not the animal kingdom (zoology).
Lions belong to the big cat genus Panthera and the full taxonomy or scientific classification of the lion species (Panthera leo) is as follows:
Lions belong to the:
Animal (Animalia) kingdom
Chordate (Chordata) phylum
Mammal (Mammalia) class
Carnivore (Carnivora) order
Cat (Felidae) family
Big cat (Panthera) genus
Lion (leo) species
The scientific name for lions is Panthera leo, the last two divisions.
Picture Credit : Google