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Lion - PANTHERA LEO
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Lion": "Lion" comes from the Greek word "leon," for the animal.
Location: Africa and India.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Savanna and scrub; in India it has adapted to forest life.
Description: The normal color is tawny-yellow, but varies from gray to ochre, and can even be blackish. The female has paler coloring, especially on the throat and on the underside of the body. The length of the mane, found only in males, may be associated with the coldness of the local climate. Length of head and body in males is over six feet, and the tail is over three additional feet long. A male lion can weigh up to 550 pounds, with the females much smaller than the males.
Behavior: Lions are social animals, living in prides usually made up of one or more adult males, two or more females, and numerous cubs and adolescents. It hunts mainly at night, but is also active during the cooler part of the day. It hunts by ambushing prey such as zebra, and various animals belonging to the cattle species. Because the lion tires quickly, it does not usually pursue its prey. The degree of cooperation has been exaggerated, but the resources of several lions are often combined: while the group stalks the prey, an animal may be ambushed by a lone lion, usually a lioness, which often kills the prey with a single blow on the back breaking the spinal column. Lions also kill by biting the throat to suffocate the prey.
Reproduction: Gestation lasts for 105 days, after which the female gives birth to two to four cubs which will remain with the group for at least 18 months. Female young may stay with the pride permanently, but the males will have to leave upon sexual maturity.
Go to the Carnivora Page to learn more about the all the meat-eating animals.
Or go to the Cat Index to study other
wild cats.
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