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Also unlike any other cat, the lion possesses a mane of
long, fine hair around the head. Only male lions have
manes, which can be from a light tawny color, to a ruddy
yellow, dark brown to almost jet black. The lion's mane is
thought to make the animal look bigger, and so frighten
off any animals, like hyenas, that would want to attack
the pride. It is also speculated by some scientists that
the lion's mane is a sexual cue to the females. It is
discovered that females preferred male lions with fuller
and darker manes. Unfortunately, the male lion cannot hunt
for itself due to its mane; it does indeed make the lion
look bigger, and so it cannot hide as well as the females
in the grass, and becomes conspicuous to prey animals. |
The Asian lion's mane is much
smaller than its African cousin's. Because it is smaller, the
Asian lion's ears are visible; African lion's ears are often
obscured by their thicker manes. It takes a male lion 5-7
years for its mane to grow to its full length. It starts out
as longer hairs on the sides of the head and a ray of hair
extending from the front of the skull to the back along the
neck, then it fills out from there. Some lions have very thick
manes and some have sparse thin manes, depending on where they
live. Mane production is directly related to sex hormones;
this has been proven in captivity, where male lions that had
been castrated lost their manes entirely. It is due to this
mane of hair that the lion has become so popular, and is
portrayed as the "King of Beasts" in so many cultures.
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