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Sexual Selection, Temperature, and the Lion's Mane
Peyton M. West,*Craig Packer
The mane of the African lion (Panthera leo)
is a highly variable trait that reflects male condition and ambient
temperature.We examined the consequences of this variation in a
long-termstudy of lions in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Manedarkness indicates nutrition and testosterone and influences bothfemale choice and male-male competition. Mane length signals fightingsuccess and only appears to influence male-male assessment. Dark-manedmales enjoy longer reproductive life-spans and higher offspringsurvival, but they suffer higher surface temperatures, abnormalsperm,
and lower food intake during hot months of the year. Manedmales are
hotter than females, and males have lighter and/or shortermanes in
hotter seasons, years, and habitats. This phenotypicplasticity
suggests that the mane will respond to forecasted increasesin ambient
temperature.
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of
Minnesota, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
west0302{at}umn.edu
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:
In Science Magazine
LETTERS
Geoffrey E. Hill, Kevin J. McGraw;, Peyton M. West, and Craig Packer (31 January 2003) Science299 (5607), 660b.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.299.5607.660b] |Full Text »|PDF »
NEWS OF THE WEEK
Jay Withgott (23 August 2002) Science297 (5585), 1255a.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.297.5585.1255a] |Summary »|Full Text »|PDF »
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