Leo (constellation) Babylonian astronomy, the constellation was called UR.GU.LA, the "Great Lion"; the bright star Regulus was known as "the star that stands at the Lion's breast." Regulus also had distinctly regal associations, as it was known as the King Star. In Greek mythology, Leo was identified as the Nemean Lion which was killed by Heracles (Hercules to the Romans) during the first of his twelve labours. The Nemean Lion would take women as hostages to its lair in a cave, luring warriors from nearby towns to save the damsel in distress, to their misfortune. The Lion was impervious to any weaponry;
American lion modern lion, making it one of the largest known felids. The American lion was designated by American paleontologist Joseph Leidy as "Felis atrox" in 1853. Hemmer proposed the trinomen "Panthera leo atrox" in 1974, which was later supported by Kurten in 1985. The American lion was initially considered a distinct species of Pantherinae, and designated as "Panthera atrox" , which means "cruel" or "fearsome panther" in Latin. Some paleontologists accepted this view, but others considered it to be a type of lion closely related to the modern lion ("Panthera" "leo") and its extinct relative, the Eurasian cave lion ("Panthera leo