lions - physical characteristics
The lion is the tallest (at the shoulder) of the felines, and also is the second-heaviest feline after the tiger. With powerful legs, a
strong jaw, and 8 cm (3.1 in) long canine teeth, the lion can bring down and kill large prey. Lion coloration varies from light buff to yellowish,
reddish, or dark ochraceous brown. The underparts are generally lighter and the tail tuft is black. Lion cubs are born with brown rosettes
(spots) on their body, rather like those of a leopard. Although these fade as lions reach adulthood, faint spots often may still be seen on
the legs and underparts, particularly on lionesses. The ancient Egyptians usually portrayed their lioness goddesses with a single rosette on
their shoulders.
Lions are the only members of the cat family to display obvious sexual dimorphism - that is, males and females look distinctly different. They
also have specialized roles that each gender plays in the pride. For instance, the lioness, the hunter, lacks the male's thick cumbersome mane,
which would impede her ability to be camouflaged when stalking the prey and create overheating in chases. The color of the male's mane varies
from blond to black, generally becoming darker as the lion grows older.
Weights for adult lions generally lie between 150 - 250 kg (330 - 550 lb) for males and 120 - 182 kg (264 - 400 lb) for females. Nowell and
Jackson report average weights of 181 kg for males and 126 kg for females; one male shot near Mount Kenya was weighed at 272 kg (600 lb). Lions
tend to vary in size depending on their environment and area, resulting in a wide spread in recorded weights. For instance, lions in southern
Africa tend to be about 5 percent heavier than those in East Africa, in general.
Head and body length is 170 - 250 cm (5 ft 7 in - 8 ft 2 in) in males and 140 - 175 cm (4 ft 7 in - 5 ft 9 in) in females; shoulder height is
about 123 cm (4 ft) in males and 107 cm (3 ft 6 in) in females. The tail length is 90 - 105 cm (2 ft 11 in - 3 ft 5 in) in males and 70 - 100
cm in females (2 ft 4 in - 3 ft 3 in). The longest known lion was a black-maned male shot near Mucsso, southern Angola in October 1973; the
heaviest known lion was a man-eater shot in 1936 just outside Hectorspruit in eastern Transvaal, South Africa and weighed 313 kg (690 lb).
Lions in captivity tend to be larger than lions in the wild - the heaviest lion on record is a male at Colchester Zoo in England named Simba
in 1970, who weighed in at 375 kg (826 lb).
The most distinctive characteristic shared by both females and males, is that the tail ends in a hairy tuft. In some lions, the tuft conceals
a hard "spine" or "spur", approximately 5 mm long, formed of the final sections of tail bone fused together. The lion is the only felid to have
a tufted tail - the function of the tuft and spine are unknown. Absent at birth, the tuft develops around 5 1/2 months of age and is readily
identifiable at 7 months.
mane
The mane of the male lion, unique among cats, is one of the most distinctive characteristics of the species. It makes the lion appear larger,
providing an excellent intimidation display; this aids the lion during confrontations with other lions and with the species' chief competitor
in Africa, the spotted hyena. The presence, absence, color, and size of the mane is associated with genetic precondition, sexual maturity,
climate, and testosterone production; the rule of thumb is the darker and fuller the mane, the healthier the lion. Sexual selection of mates
by lionesses favors males with the most dense, dark mane. Research in Tanzania also suggests mane length signals fighting success in male-male
relationships. Darker-maned individuals may have longer reproductive lives and higher offspring survival, although they suffer in the hottest
months of the year. In prides including a coalition of two or three males, it is possible that lionesses solicit mating more actively with the
males who are more heavily maned.
Scientists once believed that the distinct status of some subspecies could be justified by morphology, including the size of the mane. Morphology
was used to identify subspecies such as the Barbary Lion and Cape Lion. Research has suggested, however, that environmental factors influence
the color and size of a lion's mane, such as the ambient temperature. The cooler ambient temperature in European and North American zoos, for
example, may result in a heavier mane. Thus the mane is an inappropriate marker for identifying subspecies. The males of the Asiatic subspecies,
however, are characterized by sparser manes than average African lions.
Maneless male lions have been reported in Senegal and Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, and the original male white lion from Timbavati also was
maneless. Castrated lions have minimal manes. The lack of a mane is sometimes found in inbred lion populations; inbreeding also results in poor
fertility.
Many lionesses have a ruff that may be apparent in certain poses. Sometimes it is indicated in sculptures and drawings, especially ancient
artwork, and is misinterpreted as a male mane. It differs from a mane, however, in being at the jaw line below the ears, of much less hair length,
and frequently not noticeable, whereas a mane extends above the ears of males, often obscuring their outline entirely.
Cave paintings of extinct European Cave Lions exclusively show animals with no mane, or just the hint of a mane, suggesting to some that they
were more or less maneless; however, females hunting for a pride are the likely subjects of the drawings - since they are shown in a group
related to hunting - so these images do not enable a reliable judgment about whether the males had manes. The drawings do suggest that the
extinct species used the same social organization and hunting strategies as contemporary lions.
white lions
The white lion is not a distinct subspecies, but a special morph with a genetic condition, leucism, that causes paler colouration akin to
that of the white tiger; the condition is similar to melanism, which causes black panthers. They are not albinos, having normal pigmentation
in the eyes and skin. White Transvaal lion (Panthera leo krugeri) individuals occasionally have been encountered in and around Kruger National
Park and the adjacent Timbavati Private Game Reserve in eastern South Africa, but are more commonly found in captivity, where breeders deliberately
select them. The unusual cream color of their coats is due to a recessive gene. Reportedly, they have been bred in camps in South Africa for
use as trophies for canned hunts.
Confirmation of the existence of white lions only came in the late twentieth century. For hundreds of years prior, the white lion had been
thought to be a figment of legend circulating in South Africa, the white pelage of the animal said to represent the goodness in all creatures.
Sightings were first reported in the early 1900s, and continued, infrequently, for almost fifty years until, in 1975, a litter of white lion
cubs was found at Timbavati Game Reserve.
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