FACT ABOUT LION
The lion (Panthera leo) is a species in the family Felidae; it is a muscular, deep-chested cat with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck and round ears, and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. The lion is sexually dimorphic; males are larger than females with a typical weight range of 150 to 250 kg (330 to 550 lb) for males and 120 to 182 kg (265 to 400 lb) for females. Male lions have a prominent mane, which is the most recognisable feature of the species. A lion pride consists of a few adult males, related females and cubs. Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. The species is an apex and keystone predator, although they scavenge when opportunities occur. Some lions have been known to hunt humans, although the species typically does not.

Typically, the lion inhabits grasslands and savannas but is absent in dense forests. It is usually more diurnal than other big cats, but when persecuted it adapts to being active at night and at twilight. In the Pleistocene, the lion ranged throughout Eurasia, Africa and North America but today it has been reduced to fragmented populations in Sub-Saharan Africa and one critically endangered population in western India. It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996 because populations in African countries have declined by about 43% since the early 1990s. Lion populations are untenable outside designated protected areas. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes for concern.

One of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture, the lion has been extensively depicted in sculptures and paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature. Lions have been kept in menageries since the time of the Roman Empire and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoological gardens across the world since the late 18th century. Cultural depictions of lions were prominent in the Upper Paleolithic period; carvings and paintings from the Lascaux and Chauvet Caves in France have been dated to 17,000 years ago, and depictions have occurred in virtually all ancient and medieval cultures that coincided with the lion's former and current ranges.
Contentshe earliest fossils recognisible as lions are found at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and dated from 1.4 to 1.2 million years ago. From East Africa, lions would spread throughout the continent and into the Holarctic and the Indian subcontinent with the expansions of open habitats.

The earliest fossil record in Europe was found near Pakefield in the United Kingdom and is about 680,000 years old. Fossil remains found in the Cromer Forest Bed suggest that it was of a gigantic size and represented a lineage that was genetically isolated and highly distinct from lions in Africa and Asia.[32] It was distributed throughout Europe, across Siberia and into western Alaska via the Beringian landmass. The gradual formation of dense forest likely caused the decline of its geographic range near the end of the Late Pleistocene. Lion bones are frequently encountered in cave deposits from Eemian times, suggesting the cave lion survived in the Balkans and Asia Minor. There was probably a continuous population extending into India. Fossil lion remains were found in Pleistocene deposits in West Bengal.

The American lion arose when a population of Beringian lions became isolated south of the North American continental ice sheet about 370,000 years ago. This lion spread throughout North America, but was absent from the northeast, perhaps due to the presence of dense boreal forests in the region.It was formerly believed to have colonised northwestern South America as part of the Great American Interchange. However, the fossil remains found in the tar pits of Talara, Peru were later identified as unusually large jaguars. On the other hand, fossils of a large felid from late Pleistocene localities in southern Patagonia traditionally identified as an extinct subspecies of jaguar, Panthera onca mesembrina, have been reported to be remains of a lion. Eurasian cave lions and American lions both became extinct at the end of the last glacial period without mitochondrial descendants on other continents.
The maximal range of lion species in the late Pleistocene: red indicates Panthera spelaea, blue P. atrox, and green P. leo

Extant lion populations appear to have descended from refugium populations in East and Southern Africa 324,000–169,000 years ago and migrated to other parts of Africa and into Asia around 100,000 years ago.[23] It seems that lions went extinct in North, West and Central Africa 40,000–18,000 years ago due increases in arid climates and when these regions became more humid 15,000–11,000 years ago, they were recolonised by refugium populations from the Middle East.[25][22]
Hybrids