This article originally ran in March 2013 issue of ASK magazine MANE Why do lions have manes? One scientist packs up her toys and goes looking for an answer. In middle of Serengeti National she slinks up to tickle his nose with Park in Tanzania, Africa, a lioness tip of her tail. She s chosen him as a approaches two unknown males. One mate. has a mane that is light nearly Too bad he s just a bit, stuffed toy. same color as rest of his body. The From safety of her truck, or lion s dark mane stands out Peyton West watches lion through against his lighter fur. The lioness pads view-finder of her video camera. past light-maned male. It s one She is thrilled with lion's behavior. with dark mane who s caught her She'd suspected that female lions interest. She pauses, watching him, n preferred males with dark manes and 6 text 2013 by Alison Pearce Stevens photos co urtesy of Peyton W est this female certainly does!
by Alison Pearce Stevens Attraction photo by Hok/Wikimedia CC BY-SA 3.0 7
photo by Hok/Wikimedia CC BY-SA 3.0 Eventually, lioness realizes her new mate isn't going to return her have m at all? affections. She wanders back to her Over 140 years ago, great pride. West and her assistant jump from naturalist Charles Darwin suggested truck, bundle two life-sized that lions have manes to protect m plush lions into back, and return to from attack by or lions. It made camp. sense. After all, it would be more Why Do Lions Have Manes? difficult to bite a neck protected by a thick mat of hair. But West wasn't sure Lions manes set m apart from or about Darwin's idea if manes were so cats. But not all lions have m only important in defense, shouldn't all lions adult males grow manes. No two have m, even females? So she set manes are same. Some are very out to test it. light. Ors are nearly black. Manes She figured that if a mane acted as can be long and shaggy, covering a shield, it should cover part of shoulders and chest, or y can be body that was most likely to be injured short, covering just head and neck. in a fight. But when she looked through Some are little more than a mohawk. records of lion injuries, West found that Those wondering: 8 much? For that matter, why do lions differences got West Why do manes vary so head and neck were not attacked any more often than or parts of
How Does Your Hair Grow? Hair is made by special cells in pigment that colors skin and eyes. cycles of activity and rest, which skin. The root of hair sits More melanin in hair makes it can last from a few months to in a small pit in skin called a darker. Wher hair is curly or several years. When a follicle follicle. Hair itself is not alive it straight depends on shape of rests, hair it was working on contains no living cells. It is like follicles falls out, and a new hair starts. a rope that cells make out of a make round hairs (like spaghetti), This means hair (and fur) is protein called keratin. The hair- which hang straight. Oval follicles constantly making constantly make flatter strands, which curl. shedding. How long hair will get sticking on more to end of Animal fur is hair too we call it hair depends on length of follicle, if it s long, fur if it s short. Hair is follicles growing cycle. A longer pushing hair out. Hair gets always growing while an animal is active cycle means longer hair. its color from melanin, same alive. Hair-growing cells go through hair cells are inside hair follicle round growing and body. She also found that neck injuries a lion was sick or hurt, longer, darker are no more deadly than or injuries, hairs in his mane fall out a signal that wher or not lion has a mane. So lion is unwell. manes did not appear to be very good shields, after all. Being able to judge health of a lion from his mane is Why, n, do lions have m? useful to researchers, but West suspects The Show-Offs that lions use Hair growth depends on many this things: age, general health, what an animal eats, and hormones, chemicals that control growth and aggression. West wondered wher manes were saying something about lion underneath. She ed a group of assistants to rate length and CC B Y2.5 darkness of lions manes from photos, manes. She also discovered that when ph oto b y males tend to have shaggier, darker Ro be k/w i lion. She found that older and stronger kim ed ia n compared se to data about 9
information too. Females like healthy mates who can provide food for cubs and protect m. Male lions prefer to avoid stronger males, who might injure 1 or kill m in a fight. If a dark mane indicates a strong male, lions should pay close attention to that signal. The Winning Mane To test her idea, West needed to see how lions react to intruders with different types of manes. But lions are over hill in search of hyenas. active at night, which makes m When y spotted dummy lions, difficult to observe. And she had no way y slowed. Keeping a wary eye on of knowing where an intruder might plush intruders, y crept closer. appear what if she were on one spot, Long before y got close to but all action took place in anor? dummies, lions shifted to one side, The solution was to use life-sized so that y approached one of two dummies with four fake manes: long stuffed lions, rar than both toger. and dark, short and dark, long and light, After many tests, West found that and short and light. The enormous females almost always approached stuffed animals had velcro around ir dark-maned male. Males, on or heads, which allowed West to swap hand, usually angled up to light- one mane for anor. That way she maned could see what was most important to important to females y went to lions: length, color, or both. eir length if color was same. At dusk, West drove out to find 10 photos courtesy of Peyton West male. Mane length wasn't But males avoided long manes. lions and set up two of her dummies. At long last, West had answered a Then she climbed back into her truck, centuries-old question: Why does played a recording of hyenas, and lion have a mane? It tells or lions waited. It wasn't long before lions loped what to expect.