# Do African/Asian Lions and Elephants share similar evolution history ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 6, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-asian-lions-and-elephants-share-similar-evolution-history/855158 "2020-06-06T15:48:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-asian-lions-and-elephants-share-similar-evolution-history/855158/1 "2020-06-06T15:48:51Z")
So the Asian / African lions share the same ancestor from about 200,000 years ago (cite : [What Is the Difference Between African & Asian Lions? | Pets on Mom.com](https://animals.mom.me/difference-between-african-asian-lions-6088.html)). I was trying to look for elephants common ancestor but didn’t find a good read. Did they both separate around 200,000 years back ? Or do they have different evolution paths ? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-asian-lions-and-elephants-share-similar-evolution-history/855158/2 "2020-06-06T16:09:18Z")
Asian and African Lions are the same species. In historical times the species formerly extended into southern Europe and across southwestern and southern Asia. In the Pleistocene, lions (which many have been separate species or subspecies) [ranged across Siberia into North America.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion#/media/File:Cave_lion_range.png) Asian Elephants (_Elephas_) and African Elephants (_Loxodonta_) are not merely different species but different genera. Asian Elephants originated in Africa, but split from the African Elephant lineage perhaps five million years ago, and migrated to Asia. They are actually more closely related to mammoths than they are to African Elephants. It has been found that [African Elephants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_elephant) actually consist of two distinct species, the larger African Bush Elephant, which mainly inhabits savannas, and the African Forest Elephant, which is somewhat smaller and lives mainly in forested areas. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-asian-lions-and-elephants-share-similar-evolution-history/855158/3 "2020-06-06T22:15:56Z")
Thanks Colibri. Is the African/Asian Rhino evolution similar to Elephants ? Thanks again ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-asian-lions-and-elephants-share-similar-evolution-history/855158/4 "2020-06-06T23:43:46Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > Thanks Colibri. Is the African/Asian Rhino evolution similar to Elephants ? > > Thanks again There are five species of living rhinoceroses, in four genera, [three in Asia and two in Africa.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros#/media/File:Rhinocerotidae_distribution_map_en.png) The first branch led to the Sumatran Rhinoceros _Dicerorhinus_, the smallest and hairiest species, with two horns. The other two Asian species, the Indian Rhinoceros _Rhinoceros unicornis_ and the Javan Rhinoceros _R. sondaicus_, both with one horn, are relatively closely related. The two African species, the White Rhinoceros _Ceratotherium simum_ and Black Rhinoceros _Diceros bicornis_, both with two horns, are more closely related to one another than either is to the Asian rhinos. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-asian-lions-and-elephants-share-similar-evolution-history/855158/5 "2020-06-07T08:59:10Z")
This is also similar to the history of human and hominid exits from Africa into the rest of the world. A pulse of regular ice ages created short-lived optimal conditions that allowed expansion of hominid range out of Africa, so they appeared in Eurasia in various lineages like Neanderthals, Denisovans, Floresiensis and possibly Red Deer Cave people and others. As anatomically modern humans emerged some of their descendants spread out from Africa maybe 100,000 years ago, making sweet hominid love to anything with a pulse, while others stayed put. That’s why the indigenous people of Tierra del Fuego and Cape Town, which is 40,000 km without the unavoidable scenic detours are still part of the same species, despite some of us having lots of Neanderthal or Denisovan genetic material from our big trip.