The lion's scientific name is Panthera leo.
The lion ( Panthera leo ) is one of the big cats in the genus Panthera and a member of the family Felidae . In the late Pleistocene , about 10,000 years ago , the lion was the most widespread large land mammal after humans : Panthera leo spelaea lived in northern and western Europe and Panthera leo atrox lived in the Americas from the Yukon to Peru .