The Sri Lankan lion (''Panthera leo sinhaleyus''), also known as the Ceylonese lion, is an extinct prehistoric
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
, excavated in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. It is believed to have become extinct prior to the arrival of culturally modern humans, .
This lion is only known from two teeth found in deposits at
Kuruwita. Based on these teeth,
P. Deraniyagala proposed this subspecies in 1939. However, there is insufficient information to determine how it might differ from other subspecies of lion. Deraniyagala did not explain explicitly how he diagnosed the
holotype of this subspecies as belonging to a lion, though he justified its allocation to a distinct subspecies of lion by its being "narrower and more elongate" than those of recent lions in the British
Natural History Museum collection.
See also
*
Asiatic lion
*''
Panthera leo fossilis''
References
*
leo sinhaleyus
leo sinhaleyus
Pleistocene carnivorans
Pleistocene extinctions
Pleistocene mammals of Asia
Fossil taxa described in 1938
Taxa named by Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala
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