Five genetically distinct lion populations roam in Africa and Asia — a finding that hints at greater diversity in these animals than previously thought.

A team led by Ross Barnett, now at the University of Copenhagen, analysed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the remains of 14 lions (Panthera leo) in museums, including extinct individuals from North Africa and Iran. Comparisons with mtDNA from other ancient and modern lions (pictured) suggested that the different populations are descended from an ancestral one living in southeastern Africa around 124,000 years ago. Habitat changes led to the expansion of the lions' range throughout Africa and, beginning around 21,000 years ago, into Asia and the Middle East.

Credit: Life on White/Alamy

Lion conservation and restoration efforts — which currently recognize only two populations in Africa and Asia — ought to account for this extra diversity, the authors say.

BMC Evol. Biol. 14, 70 (2014)