Lion Evolution

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The lion (Panthera Leo) Is the modern-day predator, and one of the four big cats in the Genus panthera. lions are in the, felidae family. in size it is 2nd only to the tiger with males exceeding 800 pounds. lions are currently only found in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Although, until around 10000 years ago the lion was the most widespread large mammal after humans. The evolutionary path of the lion is not entirely known. Though much fossil evidence suggests that a certain extinct species did lead to current big cats. however, much of this is just a theory. The information in this paper is simply the commonly held estimate of The evolutionary past of the feline family and ultimately the lion.

The lion is thought to have evolved originally …show more content…
The Smilodon is perhaps the best known genus of the saber-toothed cat. However there are also 3 other genus in Machairodonts including, Homotherium, Dinictis, and Machairodus. Fossils have been discovered in North and South America and other Northern continents and show that they survived from 22 million years ago until they became extinct approximately 11,000 years ago. This was the end of the most recent ice age, and saw many animals become extinct including the mammoth. It is believed that the Machairodonts died out as a result of a combination of climate change, lack of prey and human …show more content…
To avoid extinction from this cause lions will have to evolve certain traits to become less vulnerable to human. Most of the lions targeted by humans are the largest specimens that threaten livestock. Through the process of natural selection the lions that are largest and most threatening will all be hunted down. Therefore the smaller lions will breed and their offspring will carry the gene for smaller size. Other hunters looking for good specimens to sell on the black market also prey on the larger animals. However the characteristic that is most desired is light coloured fur. For this reason, by the process of natural selection, the smaller lions with darker fur will breed and their offspring will carry on the gene. Eventually smaller lions with darker fur will be the most
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