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The '''African leopard''' ('''''Panthera pardus pardus''''') is the [[nominate subspecies]] of the [[leopard]], native to many countries in [[Africa]]. It is widely distributed in most of [[sub-Saharan Africa]], but the historical range has been [[Habitat fragmentation|fragmented]] in the course of [[Habitat destruction|habitat conversion]].
== Taxonomy ==
[[File:Leopard - Institut scientifique de Rabat - Morocco.jpg|thumb|A taxidermied leopard specimen at the Scientific Institute of [[Rabat]]
''Felis pardus'' was the [[scientific name]] used by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'']] in 1758. His description was based on descriptions by earlier naturalists such as [[Conrad Gessner]]. He assumed that the leopard occurred in India.<ref name="linnaeus">{{cite book |author=Linnaeus, C. |year=1758 |title=Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |volume=Tomus I |edition=decima, reformata |location=Holmiae |publisher=Laurentius Salvius |page=41−42 |chapter=''Felis pardus'' |language=la |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/mobot31753000798865#page/41/mode/2up}}</ref>
In the 18th and 19th centuries, several naturalists described various leopard skins and skulls from Africa, including:<ref name=Allen1939>{{cite book |last=Allen |first=G. M. |year=1939 |url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletinofmuseum83harv#page/244/mode/2up |title=A Checklist of African Mammals |series=Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College |volume=83 |pages=1–763 |publisher=The Museum |location=Cambridge, Mass.}}</ref>
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* ''Panthera pardus brockmani'' by Pocock in 1932 from [[Somaliland]]<ref name=Pocock1932/>
Results of [[Genetic analysis|genetic analyses]] indicate that all African leopard populations are generally closely related and represent only one [[subspecies]], namely ''P. p. pardus''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Miththapala |first1=S. |last2=Seidensticker |first2=J. |last3=O'Brien |first3=S. J. |name-list-style=amp |title=Phylogeographic Subspecies Recognition in Leopards (''Panthera pardus''): Molecular Genetic Variation|journal=Conservation Biology |volume=10 |issue=4 |year=1996 |pages=1115–1132 |issn=0888-8892 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1996.10041115.x}}</ref><ref name="Uphyrkina_al.2001">{{cite journal |last1=Uphyrkina |first1=O. |last2=Johnson |first2=E. W. |last3=Quigley |first3=H. |last4=Miquelle |first4=D. |last5=Marker |first5=L. |last6=Bush |first6=M. |last7=O'Brien |first7=S. J. |name-list-style=amp |year=2001 |title=Phylogenetics, genome diversity and origin of modern leopard, ''Panthera pardus'' |journal=Molecular Ecology |volume=10 |issue=11 |pages=2617–2633 |url=http://www.biosoil.ru/files/00001386.pdf |doi=10.1046/j.0962-1083.2001.01350.x |pmid=11883877 |s2cid=304770 |access-date=2012-05-10 |archive-date=2020-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428212741/https://www.biosoil.ru/files/00001386.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=CatSG2017>{{cite journal |author1=Kitchener, A. C. |author2=Breitenmoser-Würsten, C. |author3=Eizirik, E. |author4=Gentry, A. |author5=Werdelin, L. |author6=Wilting, A. |author7=Yamaguchi, N. |author8=Abramov, A. V. |author9=Christiansen, P. |author10=Driscoll, C. |author11=Duckworth, J. W. |author12=Johnson, W. |author13=Luo, S.-J. |author14=Meijaard, E. |author15=O’Donoghue, P. |author16=Sanderson, J. |author17=Seymour, K. |author18=Bruford, M. |author19=Groves, C. |author20=Hoffmann, M. |author21=Nowell, K. |author22=Timmons, Z. |author23=Tobe, S. |name-list-style=amp |year=2017 |title=A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group |journal=Cat News |volume=Special Issue 11 |pages=73–75 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=73}}</ref> However, results of an [[analysis of molecular variance]] and the pairwise [[fixation index]] of African leopard museum specimens shows differences in the ND-5 locus spanning five major [[haplogroup]]s, namely in Central–Southern Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa, coastal West–Central Africa, and Central–East Africa. In some cases, fixation indices showed higher diversity than for the [[Arabian leopard]] and ''[[Panthera pardus tulliana]]'' in [[Asia]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anco |first1=C. |last2=Kolokotronis |first2=S. O. |last3=Henschel |first3=P. |last4=Cunningham |first4=S. W. |last5=Amato |first5=G. |last6=Hekkala |first6=E. |name-list-style=amp |title=Historical mitochondrial diversity in African leopards (''Panthera pardus'') revealed by archival museum specimens |journal=Mitochondrial DNA Part A |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=455–473 |doi=10.1080/24701394.2017.1307973 |year=2017 |pmid=28423965|s2cid=4348541}}</ref>
==Characteristics==
[[File:Panthera pardus (Leopard (Kongo)).jpg|thumbnail|A dark-coloured leopard skin from Central Africa
[[File:Leopard (Panthera pardus).jpg|thumb|A leopard in the [[Serengeti]]]]
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It used to occur in most of [[sub-Saharan Africa]], occupying both [[rainforest]] and arid [[desert]] habitats. It lived in all habitats with annual rainfall above {{convert|50|mm|in|abbr=on}}, and can penetrate areas with less than this amount of rainfall along river courses. It ranges up to {{convert|5,700|m|ft|abbr=on}}, has been sighted on high slopes of the [[Rwenzori Mountains|Ruwenzori]] and [[Virunga Mountains|Virunga]] volcanoes, and observed when drinking thermal water {{convert|37|°C|°F}} in the [[Virunga National Park]].<ref name="nowell96"/>
It appears to be successful at adapting to altered natural habitat and settled environments in the absence of intense persecution. It has often been recorded close to major cities. But already in the 1980s, it has become rare throughout much of [[West Africa]].<ref>{{cite report |last1=Martin |first1=R. B. |name-list-style=amp |last2=De Meulenaer |first2=T. |year=1988 |title=Survey of the status of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') in sub-Saharan Africa |publisher=CITES Secretariat |location=Lausanne}}</ref> Now, it remains patchily distributed within historical limits.<ref name=
Leopards are rare in North Africa. A [[Relict (biology)|relict population]] persists in the [[Atlas Mountains]] of [[Morocco]], in forest and mountain steppe in elevations of {{convert|300|to|2500|m|ft|abbr=on}}, where the climate is temperate to cold.<ref name="Cuzin2003">{{cite thesis |author=Cuzin, F. |year=2003 |title=Les grands mammifères du Maroc méridional (Haut Atlas, Anti Atlas et Sahara): Distribution, Ecologie et Conservation |location=Université Montpellier II |type=Ph.D. Thesis |publisher=Laboratoire de Biogéographie et Ecologie des Vertèbrés, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes |url=http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/thesis/cuzin_2003_phd.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Busby, G. B. J. |name-list-style=amp |author2= Gottelli, D.|author3= Durant, S. |author4= Wacher, T.|author5= Marker, L.|author6= Belbachir, F.|author7= de Smet, K. |author8=Belbachir-Bazi, A. |author9= Fellous, A.|author10=Belghoul, M. |year=2006 |title=A Report from the Sahelo Saharan Interest Group |location=Algeria |publisher=Parc National de l'Ahaggar Survey |chapter=Part 5: Using Molecular Genetics to study the presence of Endangered carnivores }}</ref>
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