ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - B - THE LION (Panthera leo)

[Pckts]

(01-15-2016, 01:30 AM)tigerluver Wrote: Wounding, mortality and mane morphology in African lions, Panthera leo by Peyton M. West , Holly MacCormick, Grant Hopcraft, Karyl Whitman, Marna Ericson, Maria Hordinsky, and Craig Packer.

Abstract:
A protective role for the lion's mane has long been assumed but this assumption has never been tested. We compared patterns of injury, mane development and adult mane morphology in a population of African lions and found no compelling evidence that the mane conferred effective protection against wounding. The mane area was not a specific target of attacks, and injuries to the mane area were not associated with higher mortality than other injuries. Regions of the mane that were most frequently attacked did not show earlier onset of mane growth in subadult males or longer/darker mane hair in adult males. Adult males appeared to be wounded less frequently on the mane area than predicted by surface area, but it is unclear whether this trend was only caused by observer bias from decreased visibility. We conclude that, although the mane may have conferred protection during the early evolution of the trait, protection appears to be secondary to the strong sexually selected advantages of the mane as a condition-dependent ornament.

Read it yourself and share your thoughts.

First thought is this...........
Now I know where saving the "damsel in distress" comes from.
Notice that if only 1 males is present they will not take action against a dummy unless a female is present.
Only males who outnumbered the dummys would attack the dummy and the dummy had to be sheepskin or maneless.


Also interesting to note was page 617
The seriousness of fighting is solely dictated by what the lion has to loose or who the lion is fighting.
When infighting a coalition member for a female in heat, the fights are relatively mellow, slaps to the face and bites on the hind quarters but when fighting an outsider the fights are much more serious and the fighters usually attempt to incapacitate the opponent and "fights often end in a quick death for a rival"

Also interesting that these same rivals if they see each other with nothing to protect... (female or pride) they will usually avoid any violence. pg 617



Another interesting note was that darker hair were stronger than light but longer were weaker so really a short hair, dark maned male would be the most physically impressive mane.
But it also makes sense that a dark hair would be healthy and obviously strong where a long hair would begin to become weak as it grew.

Another note was mortality rate from forehead wounds,
they said the study had to few individuals to come to a conclusion but they did see a higher mortality rate from forehead wounds compared to neck, shoulder and chest so it would serve the lion best if the forehead developed its mane more so but oddly enough the forehead mane is the shortest and lightest and as young males begin adult hood the mane starts to darken in the areas mentioned not the forehead which kind of slaps darwins rule in the face a bit.  pg 618

In conclusion
"Regardless of the lion's manes original function, protective benefits are not sufficient to explain the maintenance of the trait; rather, the key benefit of the mane appears to derive from its function as a signal of male condition."

My thoughts are the mane is obviously a bit of protection, Hair on the head is a bit of protection over a bald head but you are still going to get cut if you bash your head on a corner. Also, lions coat seem shorter than any other panthera, almost like its their bare skin compared to tigers for instance which seem to have a thicker fur throughout their body so this is may contribute to males being able to sustain mane's since maybe if they had thicker fur the mane would take too much of a toll in the hot months, but the reverse side is that when lions live in the cold, they develop thicker fur and larger manes so who knows about that hypothesis.

All and all, the mane is first and foremost: A health gauge for other lions, the bi product of this gauge is protection and warmth.


Let me know what any of you think? Reply