11 January 2009, 00:01
LorenzoAbout lion's manes
First, I don't know nothing about lions.
I have heard many times that open places means bigger manes and that lots of thorn bush means less manes
It's possible, that we see much less big manes because in the past the bigger manes were over hunted compared with the less manes males ?
So the genetics were gone , something similar has happened with elephants no..? with all those tuskless around..
Can this be possible or is a crazy idea ??
L
11 January 2009, 06:20
JBrownI think temp has a lot to do with mane. Hotter = less mane.
12 January 2009, 11:51
fulvioGenetics is probably the correct answer in both cases. In some african countries (in the past) the Game Dept. would cull tuskless elephants hoping to reduce the deficiency in being passed on. This practice was stopped and there now seem to be more tuskless elephants than before - maybe just a coincidence ?
12 January 2009, 17:19
TANZ-PHThis interesting subject has been previously discussed in great detail already. Yes,(again) one possible theory is that manes may be effected by temperatures & possibly elevation. PLEASE SEE AN EARLIER POST: "LION MANE'S". On this post I included some observations & quotations from some famous professional hunters.

12 January 2009, 18:49
DC300Read "The Lions of Tsavo" by Bruce Patterson. He gives a very detaied account of the different schools of thought on the subject.