Asiatic lion known as "Indian lion" and "Persian lion". Following Meyer's first description of an Asiatic lion skin from Persia, other naturalists and zoologists also described lion specimens from other parts of Asia that used to be considered synonyms of "P. l. persica": In 2017, the Asiatic lion was subsumed to "P. l. leo" due to close morphological and molecular genetic similarities with Barbary lion specimens. Fossil remains of "Panthera spelaea" excavated in the Cromer Stage indicate that it represented a genetically isolated and highly distinct lineage. Fossil lion remains were found in Pleistocene deposits in West Bengal. A fossil carnassial excavated
Apex predator apex predators close to extinction, but in some parts of the world these predators are now returning. They are increasingly threatened by climate change. For example, the polar bear requires extensive areas of sea ice to hunt its prey, typically seals, but climate change is shrinking the sea ice of the Arctic, forcing polar bears to fast on land for increasingly long periods. Dramatic changes in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem were recorded after the gray wolf, both an apex predator and a keystone species (one with a large effect on its ecosystem), was reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995