Giant Oceanic Manta Ray vs León

Manta birostris compared with Panthera leo

Key Differences

• Giant Oceanic Manta Ray is Endangered while León is Vulnerable.
• Giant Oceanic Manta Ray is omnivore while León is carnivore.
• Giant Oceanic Manta Ray is 7.4x heavier than León.
• Giant Oceanic Manta Ray lives longer (50 years vs 15 years).

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Giant Oceanic Manta Ray	León
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (cordados)	Chordata (cordados)
Class	Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fish)	Mammalia (mamíferos)
Order	Lamniformes (Mackerel Sharks)	Carnivora (carnívoros)
Family	Rhincodontidae (Whale Sharks)	Felidae (Cats)
Genus	Rhincodon (Whale Sharks)	Panthera (Big Cats)
Species	Manta birostris	Panthera leo

Evolutionary Relationship

Giant Oceanic Manta Ray and León share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (cordados)

Conservation Status

Giant Oceanic Manta Ray

EN — Endangered

Trend: Decreasing ↓

León

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~23.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Giant Oceanic Manta Ray	León
Diet	Omnivore	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	50 years	15 years
Average Length	5.0 m	2.5 m
Average Weight	1.4 t	190.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Giant Oceanic Manta Ray

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including flooded grasslands and savannas, mangrove forests and coastal wetlands, and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, among 5 distinct biome types spanning the Afrotropic and Indomalayan and Neotropic realms.

Range

Distributed across Australia, Ecuador, Maldives, Mexico, and Mozambique. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

León

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 7 distinct biome types spanning the Afrotropic and Neotropic and Oceanian realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, and Kenya. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Giant Oceanic Manta Ray

La manta raya gigante oceánica (Manta birostris) es la especie de raya más grande, con una envergadura de hasta 7 metros. Son animales filtradores que se alimentan de plancton.

León

El felino salvaje más grande de Africa, el león puede alcanzar hasta 250 kg y es el único félido social, viviendo en manadas en sabanas y praderas del Africa subsahariana. Los machos se distinguen por sus icónicas melenas. Como depredadores apicales, regulan las poblaciones de herbívoros y mantienen el equilibrio del ecosistema. Clasificado como Vulnerable debido a la pérdida de hábitat y el conflicto entre humanos y vida silvestre.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇪🇨 Ecuador