Ancient DNA analysis indicates the rst English lions originated from North Africa
نویسندگان
چکیده
The Royal Menagerie of England was established at the Tower of London in the 13th Century and served as a home of exotic animals until it was closed on behalf of the Duke of Wellington in 1835. Two well-preserved lion skulls recovered from the moat of the Tower of London were recently radiocarbon-dated to AD 1280-1385 and AD 1420-1480, making them the earliest con rmed lion remains in the British Isles since the extinction of the Pleistocene cave lion. Using ancient DNA techniques and cranio-morphometric analysis, we identify the source of these rst English lions to lie in North Africa, where no natural lion population remains today.
منابع مشابه
The Challenges and Relevance of Exploring the Genetics of North Africa's “Barbary Lion” and the Conservation of Putative Descendants in Captivity
The lions of North Africa were unique in ecological terms as well as from a human cultural perspective and were the definitive lions of Roman and Medieval Europe. Labelled "Barbary" lions, they were once numerous in North Africa but were exterminated by the mid-20th century. Despite subsequent degeneration of the Atlas Mountain ecosystem through human pressures, the feasibility of lion reintrod...
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