AnAge entry for Panthera leo

Classification (HAGRID: 01780)

Taxonomy: Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
        Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
            Order: Carnivora
                Family: Felidae
                    Genus: Panthera
Species: Panthera leo
Common name: Lion

Maximum longevity: 28 years (captivity)
Source: ref. 1306
Sample size: Large
Data quality: Acceptable
Observations: Some older publications list lions as capable of living up to 30 years [0514], which is based on anecdotal reports and probably incorrect. One wild born male died at Cologne Zoo at about 27 years of age. A hybrid between a leopard and a lion lived for 24 years and a hybrid between a lion and tiger lived for 24.2 years [0671]. One zoo specimen lived 28 years based on data retrieved from ZIMS [1306].

: No information is available on life history. Please contact us if you wish to suggest or contribute data.

[1150] Jones et al. (2014), Diversity of ageing across the tree of life (PubMed)
[1143] Nussey et al. (2013), Senescence in natural populations of animals: widespread evidence and its implications for bio-gerontology (PubMed)
[1142] Kohler et al. (2006), Comparative mortality levels among selected species of captive animals
[0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World
[0036] Savage et al. (2004), The predominance of quarter-power scaling in biology
[0420] White and Seymour (2003), Mammalian basal metabolic rate is proportional to body mass2/3 (PubMed)
[0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
[0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
[0162] Packer et al. (1998), Reproductive cessation in female mammals (PubMed)
[0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
[0680] Wootton (1987), The effects of body mass, phylogeny, habitat, and trophic level on mammalian age at first reproduction
[0731] Zullinger et al. (1984), Fitting sigmoid equations to mammalian growth curves
[0514] Theodor Haltenorth and Helmut Diller (1977), A Field Guide to the Mammals of Africa including Madagascar
[1306] Variation in actuarial senescence does not reflect life span variation across mammals (PubMed)