Date: August 11, 2016
Source: Leiden, Universiteit
Lions in West and Central Africa
form a unique group, only distantly related to lions in East and Southern
Africa. Biologists at Leiden University confirm this in an article published
in Scientific Reports.
Genetic data
In this study, the researchers
gathered a genetic dataset of lion populations covering a total of 22
countries. This included samples from each remaining lion population in West
and Central Africa, a region where lions and other wildlife are rapidly
declining as a consequence of the increasing human population. The researchers
managed to gather all the information by teaming up with other people in the
field and local conservationists.
300,000 years ago
Based on the genetic data, it was
estimated that the split between the two major groups that can be identified in
the lion must have occurred 300,000 years ago. To explain what happened in
their evolution, the researchers made a reconstruction of African
climatological history. It seems that periodic expansions of the rain forest
and the desert drove lions into isolated pockets of suitable habitat, where the
different genetic lineages originated that can still be observed today.
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