Unlike other cats, lions have a thick mane on their head and neck, and only male lions have a mane.
Not only that, but the length and color of each lion's mane is very different, why is that?
The mane makes lions stand out from the feline, but not all lions have a mane, only adult male lions have a mane.
The mane of an adult male lion varies in shape: some are very light beige, others are almost pure black; Some are long and fluffy, covering the shoulders and front of the lion; Others are very short, only on the head and neck of male lions.
About 150 years ago, Darwin made his own speculation:The mane protects the male lion from injury in a fight. This explanation seems to make sense, after all, through a thick mane, it is difficult for opponents to bite their necks.
But Darwin's speculation was questioned by some zoologists. If manes are so important in protection, why don't all lions, including females, also grow manes?
So, they did an experiment and put some lion models with different mane colors and lengths into the wild, with dark long manes, dark short manes, light long manes, and light short manes.
After a series of experiments, zoologists found that female lions always approach male lions with dark manes first, while male lions, on the contrary, approach "invaders" with light manes first. The length of the mane doesn't seem to be that important to the lioness, but the male will avoid opponents with longer manes.
Finally, let's answer this cross-century question: Why do lions have long manes? This is because they are showing their strength to other lions.
The mane of a male lion is not innate, but grows slowly as the body grows. The mane of adult male lions over the age of three or four gradually develops, and the body of seven or eight-year-old male lions reaches its peak at the same time as the mane. Typically, healthy male lions also have more developed manes than injured lions.
Therefore, in the world of lions, the mane is a symbol of youth and physical fitness. A male lion with a well-developed mane will be admired by the female and intimidated by competitors. From this point of view, the mane of the male lion and the "opening screen" of the male peacock actually play a similar function.
Through this mechanism, the male lion does not need to risk injury or even death in many cases, and can first make a preliminary judgment on the opponent's physical condition based on his mane before deciding whether to fight or retreat.
The dark "mane scarf" is a double-edged sword for male lions, a symbol of their majestic status, and can also cause a lot of distress.
Under the grasslands of Africa, where there is no shelter, the male lion's thick mane will be more conspicuous, and it will be exposed to its prey at once.
You might say that male lions don't need to hunt! But in fact, the wandering male lions before joining the lion group also have to be self-reliant, and even after entering the lion group, it is not that they do not participate in a single hunt.
Most African savannahs have a very hot and humid climate, and a thick black mane is very heat-absorbing and more prone to parasites. So for male lions, the "conspicuous" mane is not so friendly.
Next time you go on a safari, you might as well observe which male lion has the darkest "neck" color, it may be the king of this park