Skull morphology analysis suggests the extinct Cape lion, Panthera leo melanochaita (Smith, 1842), is not distinctive.

Autor: Nanova O; Division of Mammals, Zoological Museum, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Ul. Bol'shaya Nikitskaya 6, 125009, Moscow, Russian Federation., Cooper DM; Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF, UK.; Institute of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, UK., Kitchener AC; Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF, UK.; Institute of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, UK., Kerley GIH; Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela University, PO Box 77000, Gqeberha, 6031, South Africa., Gnoske TP; Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, 60605-2827, USA., Kerbis Peterhans JC; Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, 60605-2827, USA.; College of Arts and Sciences, Roosevelt University, 430 South Michigan Avenue 1856, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA., Simeonovski V; Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, 60605-2827, USA., Patterson BD; Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, 60605-2827, USA., Macdonald DW; WildCRU, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Abingdon, OX13 5QL, UK., Yamaguchi N; WildCRU, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Abingdon, OX13 5QL, UK. nobuyuki.yamaguchi@umt.edu.my.; Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, University of Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia. nobuyuki.yamaguchi@umt.edu.my.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2024 Oct 16; Vol. 14 (1), pp. 24251. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Oct 16.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-74225-7
Abstrakt: The lion (Panthera leo) was extirpated from the Cape region of South Africa during the mid-nineteenth century. Whilst historically classified as a distinct subspecies known as the Cape lion (P. l. melanochaita), recent molecular studies challenge the distinctiveness of this population, suggesting that it represents the southernmost population of the species' Southern Clade. The Cape lion is often cited as having a distinctive skull morphology, which has justified its subspecific classification, but only a limited number of specimens have been available for examination, so that the Cape lion's skull morphology has not been satisfactorily understood. In this study we collected morphometric data from a greatly enlarged sample of 22 Cape lion skulls, including 12 adults, constituting the largest sample size analysed for this possible subspecies. The results suggest that (1) morphological characteristics of the skull previously thought to distinguish the Cape lion are not diagnostic, and (2) nor is the skull morphology of male and female Cape lions distinct from that of males and females of other southern African lions. Our results independently support those based on molecular investigations, which suggest that the Cape lion was not distinct from other lions within the Southern Clade.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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