General Information
The name "lion" has its origin in different languages, for example the Latin word leo and the ancient greek word leon. Linneaus, a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist known mostly as the father of modern taxonomy, once referred to the lion as a part of the species Felis leo in his work, Systema Naturae during the 18th century.
The lion is nowadays part of the Panthera species, called Panthera leo, along with four other big cats; the tiger (Panthera tigris), the jaguar (Panthera ocra) and the leopard (Panthera pardus). The name Panthera leo is believed to derive from Greek pan- (all) and ther (beast) but this isn’t necessarily true. It also shows a striking resemblance to the Sanskrit word pundarikam (tiger) which in turn may originate from pandarah which means "whitish-yellow".