Ethiopian lion
| Ethiopian lion | |
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P. l. roosevelti
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| Trinomial name | |
| Panthera leo roosevelti (Heller, 1913)
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The Ethiopian lion, Addis Ababa lion or Abyssinian lion (Panthera leo roosevelti) is considered to be a possible subspecies of lion, native to Ethiopia, after a genetic and phenotypic analysis on lions in Addis Ababa's zoo.[2][3] Otherwise, Haas et al. (2015, page 3) thought that it was the East African lion that inhabited Ethiopia.[4]
Contents
Taxonomic history
In 1914, the American zoologist Heller described the Ethiopian/Abyssinian lion under the name Felis leo roosevelti on the basis of a male lion presented to President Roosevelt allegedly from the vicinity of Addis Abeba.[5]
Physical characteristics
Compared to other African lions, Ethiopian lions have darker manes and smaller bodies.[2][3] However, the physical differences with wild lions may be due to living in captivity, which can affect a lion's physical appearance.[2]
Genetic characteristics
A DNA analysis was conducted on fifteen lions in the zoo, to six populations of wild lions, by a team of researchers led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, and the University of York in the United Kingdom.[2] The results showed little signs of inbreeding, and that they were genetically unique. Susanne Bruche et al. (2012) said that their uniqueness was shown from a comparison of their mitochondrial cytochrome b (CytB) gene sequence, to sequences of wild lions of different origins.[3]
Possible origin or habitat
According to Bruche (2012), Ethiopian authorities stated that Addis Ababa's zoo's lions resembled lions in the east and northeast of Ethiopia, in Babille Elephant Sanctuary, and a facility for rescuing wildlife in Ensessakotteh. The lions of the zoo belonged to the founder of the zoo, Emperor Haile Selassie, who founded it in 1948. Their origin in the wilderness is not known. One theory is that they may have descended from seven lions, five males and two females, which were from the southwestern part of the country, and that wild lions no longer exist there, because their dark manes made them visible to hunters.[2]
References
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- ↑ Heller, E. 1914. New races of carnivores and baboons from equatorial Africa and Abyssinia Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 61(19): 1–12.
See also
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