Comparative Analysis of African and Asiatic Lions

[GuateGojira]

This information is good for the no-initiated, but people like us know that it still contain some “popular” myths.
 
Here are the corrections:
 
Subspecies:
All the documents (about 8 or 9) about the genetic of lions, that I have read, support the fact that there are only TWO lion subspecies and the document of Dubach et al. (2013), the last one, and the only that summarize all the others state them:
1. Panthera leo leo – The Asian lineage: West-Central Africa, Barbary region, middle east and India (the Indian lions can keep they name Persica ONLY for conservation purposes.
2. Panthera leo melanochaita – The African lineage: Clade of East Africa and the clade of Southern Africa.
 
Asiatic and African lions DO separated as recently as 100,000 years ago, and are thus very close in genetic make-up. This is correct. It is also true that the differences between the two are less than those found between different human racial groups and this also apply for the tiger “subspecies”, especially in the mainland. However, the morphological differences are NOT significant enough to tell the 100% accurately the difference between an Asiatic and an African lion. For example, West and Central African lions are IDENTICAL to the Gir lions. Also, the maneless populations of Tsavo present some traits that can be confused with those from India. So, we must take care in differentiate between “what” populations we are comparing.
 
Size
Asiatic lions are relative smaller than their African lions, in average and in maximum figures. Adult males typically weigh between 353 and 420 pounds (160 – 190 kg), while adult females weigh between 240 and 264 pounds (109 - 120 kg) . The largest Asiatic lion on record measured 9.7 feet (296 cm) from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail “between pegs”.
 
Male African lions typically weigh between 320 and 500 pounds (145 – 227 kg) in weight, with an average around 386 pounds (175 kg) overall. The largest African lion hunted on record weighed 690 pounds (313 kg). Females typically weigh more than their Asiatic cousins. The longest African lion measured around 10 feet (310 cm) from nose to tail tip “between pegs”.
 
Mane
African lions DO have larger manes than those from India, but again, it depend of the region. For example, some lions in Africa have smaller manes than some males in India, while the manes of some captive Indian lions are as large as those of the supposed pure Barbary lions that still live in some zoos.
 
Skin fold
Other than the male's sparse mane, the most distinguishing characteristic of the Asiatic lion is a longitudinal fold of skin that runs along the belly. This trait is found in all Asiatic lions and very rarely in the African lions. Interestingly, those from the West-Central Africa region and the Barbary lions DO have the same belly fold.
 
Skull
Most of the Indian lions DO have the bifurcated infraorbital foramina in the skull while only very very few African lions have it. However, the Barbary lions, the Bengal tigers and even some Cave lions have it too. The skulls of the African lions are larger than those from India.
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