Lion (African)
Panther leo
Classifaction
Domain Eukarya- All animals can be multicellular or single celled. All animals have a nucleus.
Kingdom Animalia-All animals are multicellular and have heterophs. Animals do not have cell walls because only plants have cell walls.
Phylum Choradata -Bilateral symmetry is when you can split a animal or a human and it would be the same thing when you fold it. A segmented body is section of your body. A lion also has segmented muscles that means that only one section of the body.
Subphylum Vertebrata- A lion has a vertabrate which is basically a back bone. The muscles are attached to the endoskeleton which helps the Lion's movement. The chain of bony elements helps its skeletal axis
Class Mammalia- This shows me that their are a lot of species of animals. This also shows me that animals can be founded in aquatic areas and on the ground. This shows me that their are 3 different kinds of mammals
Order Carnivora- This shows me that they don't eat eachother. This also shows me that want to be in the middle. This shows me that their are only 3 kinds of species now.
Family Felidae- Cats are found in all terrestrial habitats except treeless tundra and polar ice regions. Cats are found worldwide, and one species. Unlike other carnivores, felids rely almost exclusively on prey that they have killed themselves.
Genus Panthera- Roaring Cats
Species- Panthera leo
Lion Map
Lion starring
Lion Attacking
Physical + Behavioral Adaptations
Physical Adaptations
Female lions are the pride's primary hunters. They often work together to prey upon antelopes, zebras, wildebeest, and other large animals of the open grasslands. Even though male lions are the leaders the Females do almost all the hunting on antelopes, zebras, wildebeest, and other large animals. They have sharp teeth that are perfect for chomping, and biting and chewing up meat. This shows me if the lion didn't have sharp teeth it could not eat any meat of other hard thing such as other animals or bones. The pads on their feet protect their paws from the rough terrain that they might walk over.
This shows me that if the panthera leo didn't have pads it wouldn't have any protection on there paws, so they could not walk/run in the rough terrain areas. They have sharp hooked claws which they can retract or extend at will. This also shows me that if the lion didn't have so sharp of claws it couldn't go up to 40 miles per hour. Lion's coats are perfect camouflage for sneaking up on their prey. This shows me that the lion can sneek up on prey without them being seen
Behavioral Adaptions
The lion can be crucial to other animal's survival. When a lion makes a kill and is done eating, there are usually leftovers, or scraps, which scavengers like vultures and the occasional hyena, come and eat, and thus are helped to survive too. This shows me that if the lions ate all of the meat for themselves they wouldn't care for any of the other animals such as vultures and hyenas, so they would be selfish not selfless. The males protect the pride and the females hunt and take care of the cubs. This shows me that each female or male lion has there own responsibility in the pack. They all help hunt in order to keep every member healthy, and every cub fed. This shows me that every lion cares about each other. Pride members come and go and are rarely all together at once. There can be anywhere from 2 to 40 lions in a pride. Research has shown that lions form groups for many reasons besides greater hunting efficiency. Lions have the great ability to critically injure or kill other lions when engaged in a fight. This shows me that they have to survive in packs of large or small in order to survive. The lion has to fight in order for it to survive. A lioness will stalk her prey using the brush and scrub for cover. The unusual method of killing is for the lioness to leap at her prey and break its neck using her front paws. What this shows is how the lioness stalks her prey and how it helps survive to catch some of its prey. This shows me how feirce the lion is and how is helps it survive
Other Facts
Indanger- Major threats to lions include habitat loss, disease, and retaliatory or preemptive killing by humans to protect life and livestock. Help protect the African lion.
Colors-Three year-old male lions grow manes that vary in color from black to blond. Cubs have brown spots on a grayish coat until the age of three months; spots may remain on stomach, especially in east Africa. This shows me that the lion when it as a very young age is that the color is Black and Blond.
Eating- Lions are predatory carnivores. They usually hunt in groups, but the actual killing is done by an individual lion. They frequently bring down prey much bigger than they are themselves. Impalas Aepyceros melampus, and wildebeests Connochaetes taurinus). Individual prides tend to have their own eating preferences. Some prides tend to target large prey such as cape buffalo Syncerus caffer and giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis. Lions that are not able to capture large prey will eat birds, rodents, fish, ostrich eggs, amphibians and reptiles. Lions also actively scavenge, taking cues from hyenas and vultures. The lion (African) likes to eat impalas Aepyceros melampus, and wildebeests Connochaetes taurinus. Some prides tend to target large prey such as cape buffalo caffer and giraffe Giraffa. Lions that are not able to capture large prey will eat birds, rodents, fish, ostrich eggs, amphibians and reptiles. Lions also actively scavenge, taking cues from hyenas and vultures.
Predators- People hunt the Lion (African)
Habitat- African lions live in plains or savanna habitat with a large prey base (mostly ungulates) and sufficient cover available. Lions can also live, with wider ranges, in most habitats except in tropical rainforests and in deserts. Lions can live in forested, shrubby, mountainous, and semi-desert habitats. They are capable of living at high altitudes. There is a lion population in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia at 4,240 m. African Lions live in plains or savanna habitat. The African Lion also lives in the forested, shrubby, mountainous, and semi-desert habitats. They are capable of living at high altitudes. There is a lion population in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia at 4,240 m
Travelling to see a African Lion- Africa, plains or savanna, Tropical rainforests and in deserts, and forested, shrubby, mountainous, and semi-desert habitats. That is where you would have to go to see them.
Weight-Male- 330-550lbs. Female- 265-400lbs.
Length-Male, head and body: 5 1/2-8 ft. Shoulder height: about 4 feet. Female, head and body: 4 1/2- 6 feet. Shoulder height 3-3 1/2 feet.
Wild Diet: Animals in the 100- to 650-pound range: wildebeests, impala, antelope, young giraffes, buffalo, wild hogs, and zebras
Zoo Diet: Nebraska feline and canine diet, plus chunk horse meat, liver, or shank bone as treats
This shows me what the lion African eats at a zoo and in the wild
Geografical range -
African lions (Panthera leo) live in most of sub-Saharan Africa except in desert and rainforest habitats. Lions were once exterminated from South Africa, where they remain in Kruger and Kalahari Gemsbok National Parks and possibly some other protected areas. Lions once ranged throughout southwest Asia and north Africa. Asiatic lions (P. l. persica) belong to the single remaining subspecies in this region. Once roaming from Greece to central India, Asiatic lions persist in the Gir forest of northwest India. The Lions live in most of sub-Saharan Africa except in desert and rainforest habitats. This shows me that the african lion dosen't live in desesrts and rainforests habitats because they can't go into camoflouge.
References
African-lion. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2015, from National Geographic website: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/african-lion/
African lion. (2014). Retrieved March 19, 2015, from Brookfield Zoo website: http://www.czs.org/Brookfield-ZOO/Zoo-Animals/Big-Cats/African-Lion.aspx
Burton, M. (2002). Lion (African). In International wildlife encyclopedia (3rd ed., Vol. 11, pp. 1460-1463). New York, NY: Marshall Cavendish.
Harrington, E. 2004. "Panthera leo" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed March 11, 2015 at http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Panthera_leo/
McClung, R. (2000). Lion. Retrieved March 19, 2015, from Blue planet biomes website: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/lion.htm