Largest-ever lion subspecies

The largest-ever subspecies of lion was the American lion Panthera leo atrox, which once inhabited North America (and possibly southwards as far as Peru, too), but became extinct just over 11,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. In overall body size, it was 25 per cent larger than the largest modern-day African lions. Based upon fossil evidence, it is estimated to have had a head-and-body length of 1.6-2.5 m, to have stood 1.2 m at the shoulder, and to have weighed up to 351 kg.

Palaeontologists believe that the American lion is descended from a population of Eurasian cave lions that crossed over from the Old World into the New World via the Bering land-bridge that connected Siberia to Alaska during the mid-Pleistocene epoch. Earlier, pre-genetic analyses of this cat's remains had suggested to some researchers that it may have been a giant jaguar, but genetic studies confirmed its true status as a lion subspecies.