Cape lion

The Cape lion was a distinctive population of lions in South Africa's Natal and Cape Provinces that was extirpated in the mid-19th century. The type specimen originated at the Cape of Good Hope and was described in 1842. Traditionally, the Cape lion was considered a distinct subspecies of lion, Panthera leo melanochaita. However, phylogeographic analysis has shown that lion populations in Southern and East Africa are closely related. In 2017, the subspecies Panthera leo melanochaita was recircumscribed to include all lion populations in Southern and East Africa. Felis (Leo) melanochaita was a black-maned lion specimen from the Cape of Good Hope that was described by Ch. H. Smith in 1842. In the 19th century, naturalists and hunters recognised it as a distinct subspecies because of this dark mane colour. In the 20th century, some authors supported this view of the Cape lion being a distinct subspecies. Vratislav Mazák hypothesized that it evolved geographically isolated from other populations by the Great Escarpment. This theory was questioned in the early 21st century. Genetic exchanges between lion populations in the Cape, Kalahari and Transvaal regions, and farther east are considered having been possible through a corridor between the escarpment and the Indian Ocean. Results of phylogeographic studies support this notion of lions in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa being genetically close. Based on the analysis of 357 lion samples from 10 countries, it is thought that lions migrated from Southern to East Africa during the Pleistocene and Holocene. Analysis of 194 lion samples from 22 countries suggest that populations in Southern and East Africa are distinct from populations in West and North Africa and Asia. In 2017, lion populations in Southern and East Africa were subsumed under P. l. melanochaita.