Panthera leo sinhaleyus
Temporal range: Pleistocene
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Pantherinae
Genus: Panthera
Species:
P. leo
Subspecies:
†P. l. sinhaleyus
Trinomial name
†Panthera leo sinhaleyus

Panthera leo sinhaleyus is an extinct prehistoric subspecies of lion, excavated in Sri Lanka. It is believed to have become extinct prior to the arrival of humans c. 37,000 years BCE.[1]

History and taxonomy

In 1938, the paleontologist Paulus Deraniyagala named a new prehistoric subspecies of lion, Panthera leo sinhaleyus, based on a single left lower carnassial (M1) tooth excavated from deposits in Kuruwita as the holotype and a damaged right lower canine tooth from the same location as a "metatype".[2] It was further described, but named only as Panthera leo, in a 2005 study of felid fossils from the Kuruwita site.[1]

Description

Deraniyagala called the holotype "narrower and more elongate" but otherwise provided little information on what distinguished P. l. sinhaleyus from other lion subspecies, and distinguished it only from the teeth of tigers by its larger size. The 2005 study also described it in more detail.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Manamendra-Arachchi, Kelum; Pethiyagoda, Rohan; Dissanayake, Rajith; Meegaskumbura, Madhava (2005). "A second extinct big cat from the late Quaternary of Sri Lanka". The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Supplement 12: 423–434.
  2. ^ Deraniyagala, P. E. P. (1938). "Some fossil animals from Ceylon, Part II". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch). 34 (91): 231–239. JSTOR 45385414.
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