European lion (
Panthera leo europaea or
Panthera leo tartarica) could be an extinct subspecies of
lionThe Lion is one of four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
that inhabited southern
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
until historic times. This population is generally considered part of the
Asiatic lionThe Asiatic Lion or Persian lion or the Indian Lion is a subspecies of the lion which survives today only in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, India...
(
Panthera leo persica), but others consider it a separate subspecies, the European lion (
Panthera leo europaea). They also could possibly have been the last remnants of the
Cave LionThe cave lion also known as the European or Eurasian cave lion, is an extinct subspecies of lion known from fossils and multiple examples of prehistoric art.-Physical characteristics:...
(
Panthera leo spelaea).
Two prehistoric lions lived in Europe, namely the Early Middle Pleistocene European cave lion
Panthera leo fossilis and the
Upper Pleistocene European cave lionThe cave lion also known as the European or Eurasian cave lion, is an extinct subspecies of lion known from fossils and multiple examples of prehistoric art.-Physical characteristics:...
Panthera leo spelaea.
The European lion in historic times inhabited the
Iberian PeninsulaThe Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...
, southern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
and
BalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
south to northern
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
.
European lion (
Panthera leo europaea or
Panthera leo tartarica) could be an extinct subspecies of
lionThe Lion is one of four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
that inhabited southern
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
until historic times. This population is generally considered part of the
Asiatic lionThe Asiatic Lion or Persian lion or the Indian Lion is a subspecies of the lion which survives today only in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, India...
(
Panthera leo persica), but others consider it a separate subspecies, the European lion (
Panthera leo europaea). They also could possibly have been the last remnants of the
Cave LionThe cave lion also known as the European or Eurasian cave lion, is an extinct subspecies of lion known from fossils and multiple examples of prehistoric art.-Physical characteristics:...
(
Panthera leo spelaea).
Two prehistoric lions lived in Europe, namely the Early Middle Pleistocene European cave lion
Panthera leo fossilis and the
Upper Pleistocene European cave lionThe cave lion also known as the European or Eurasian cave lion, is an extinct subspecies of lion known from fossils and multiple examples of prehistoric art.-Physical characteristics:...
Panthera leo spelaea.
Distribution
The European lion in historic times inhabited the
Iberian PeninsulaThe Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...
, southern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
and
BalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
south to northern
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
. This was the northernmost of the subspecies of lion until its extinction. Its habitat was the Mediterranean and temperate forests of the area, with prey that included the
wisentThe wisent , also known as the European bison, is a species of Eurasian bison. It is the heaviest surviving land animal in Europe; a typical wisent is about long and tall, and weighs . It is typically lighter than the related American Bison , and has shorter hair on the neck, head and...
,
elkThe moose or common elk , , is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a "twig-like" configuration....
,
aurochsThe aurochs or urus was a type of wild cattle, the ancestor of domestic cattle. It inhabited Europe, Asia and North Africa, but is now extinct; it survived in Europe until 1627....
,
deerDeer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. They include for example Moose, Red Deer, Reindeer, Roe and Chital. Animals from related families within the order Artiodactyla are often also considered to be deer – these include muntjac and water deer...
and other European ungulates.
Extinction
Due to their remote extinction, little is known about these subspecies of lion.
AristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology.Together with Plato and Socrates , Aristotle is one of...
and
HerodotusHerodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture. He was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
wrote that lions were found in the Balkans in the middle of the first millennium BC. When
XerxesXerxes the Great, also known as Xerxes I of Persia, was a Zoroastrian Persian Shahanshah of the Achaemenid Empire.Xerxes was the son of Darius the Great and his wife Atossa...
advanced through
MacedonMacedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paionia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south...
in 480 BC he encountered several lions. Before 20 BC they became extinct from
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
and around the year 1 AD from
Western EuropeWestern Europe is the collection of countries in the westernmost region of Europe, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a cultural entity—the region lying west of Central Europe...
also. Around the year 70 they were restricted to northern Greece, in the area between the rivers Aliakmon and Nestus. Finally, in the year 100 they became extinct in
Eastern EuropeEastern Europe is a region lying in the Eastern part of Europe. The term is highly context-dependent and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
too. After that lions in the European continent became restricted to the
CaucasusThe Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region between at the border of Europe and Asia. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, including Europe's highest mountain ....
, where a population of the
Asiatic lionThe Asiatic Lion or Persian lion or the Indian Lion is a subspecies of the lion which survives today only in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, India...
survived until the 10th century.
The European Lion became extinct due to excessive hunting (lion hunting was popular among the Greeks and Romans), over-exploitation, and competition with feral dogs. Along with the
Barbary lionThe Barbary Lion, Atlas lion or Nubian lion is a subspecies of lion that has become extinct in the wild. There are around 40 in captivity in Europe, with fewer than a hundred in zoos around the world....
and the
Asiatic lionThe Asiatic Lion or Persian lion or the Indian Lion is a subspecies of the lion which survives today only in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, India...
the European lion was used in the
Roman arenasThe Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre , is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire...
, where they fought against
bestiariiAmong Ancient Romans, bestiarii were those who went into combat with beasts, or were exposed to them. It is conventional to distinguish two categories of bestiarii: the first were those condemned to death via the beasts and the second were those who faced them voluntarily, for pay or glory...
, and animals like the
Caspian tigerThe Caspian tiger , also known as the Persian tiger, Turanian tiger, Mazandaran tiger or Hyrcanian tiger was the westernmost population of Siberian tiger, found in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Caucasus, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan until it apparently became...
, the
aurochsThe aurochs or urus was a type of wild cattle, the ancestor of domestic cattle. It inhabited Europe, Asia and North Africa, but is now extinct; it survived in Europe until 1627....
and
bearBears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
s. Due to geographical distribution they were more accessible to Romans than North African and Middle Eastern lions. As the European lion became increasingly rare, Romans began to import lions from
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
and the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
to fight in the arenas. Further details about their extinction are unknown.
See also
- Asiatic Lion
The Asiatic Lion or Persian lion or the Indian Lion is a subspecies of the lion which survives today only in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, India...
- American Lion
The American lion also known as the North American lion or American cave lion, is an extinct feline of the family Felidae, endemic to North America during the Pleistocene epoch , existing for approximately .It was one of the largest subspecies of cat ever to have existed, and the largest lion in...
- Barbary Lion
The Barbary Lion, Atlas lion or Nubian lion is a subspecies of lion that has become extinct in the wild. There are around 40 in captivity in Europe, with fewer than a hundred in zoos around the world....
- Cave Lion
The cave lion also known as the European or Eurasian cave lion, is an extinct subspecies of lion known from fossils and multiple examples of prehistoric art.-Physical characteristics:...
- Lion
The Lion is one of four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...