Leopard Attacked People, West Bengal, India

Results of phylogenetic analyses of chemical secretions amongst cats has suggested that the leopard is closely related to the lion. A mitochondrial DNA study carried out later suggests that the leopard is closely related to the snow leopard, which is placed as a fifth Panthera species, Panthera uncia. The researchers suggest that the snow leopard is most closely aligned with the tiger, whereas the leopard possibly has diverged from the Panthera lineage subsequent to these two species, but before the lion and jaguar. The leopard is also considered the type species of the genus Panthera.
Subspecies
Since Carl Linnaeus published his description of leopards in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae in 1758, as many as 27 leopard subspecies were subsequently described by naturalists from 1794 to 1956. In 1996, according to DNA analysis carried out in the 1990s, only eight subspecies are considered valid. Later analysis revealed a ninth valid subspecies, the Arabian leopard (P. p. nimr). Because of limited sampling of African leopards, this number might be an underestimation.