The term "maneless lion" or "scanty mane lion" often refers to a male lion without a mane, or with a weak one. [1] [2]
The purpose of the mane is thought to signal the fitness of males to females. Experts disagree as to whether or not the mane defends the male lion's throat in confrontations. [3] [4] [5] [6]
Although lions are known for their mane, not all males have one. [2] This might be because of a polymorphism within males. [7]
The Asiatic lion is often considered to have a weak mane compared to its cousins in Africa, due to the hot climate in Asia, [9] but this does not always apply. The manes of most lions in ancient Greece and Asia Minor were also less developed and did not extend to below the belly, sides or ulnas. Lions that occurred in Mesopotamia had hair on the underbelly, unlike modern lions in the wilderness of India, [10] and also, a relief from Nineveh in the Mesopotamian Plain shows a lion with underbelly hair. Lions with such smaller manes were also known in the Syrian region, Arabian Peninsula and Egypt, [11] while in Gir Forest of India, cases of maneless lions are rarely reported.
In Iran there are often pictures of stone reliefs with Asiatic lions without a mane.
Lions with such smaller manes were also known in the Syrian region and Arabian peninsula. [12] [13]
In sub-Saharan Africa, lions with weak manes were reported in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda.
Tsavo is a region of Kenya located at the crossing of the Uganda Railway over the Tsavo River, close to where it meets the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River. Tsavo male lions generally do not have a mane, though colouration and thickness vary. There are several hypotheses as to the reasons. One is that mane development is closely tied to climate because its presence significantly reduces heat loss. [14] An alternative explanation is that manelessness is an adaptation to the thorny vegetation of the Tsavo area in which a mane might hinder hunting. Tsavo males may have heightened levels of testosterone, which could also explain their reputation for aggression. [14]
West African lions are often seen with weak manes or none. [15] [16]
Lions in Ancient Egyptian art are usually depicted without a mane, but with a ruff around the neck. [17] The reason for this is not known. [1] [18]
Paleolithic European cave paintings depict all cave lions (which are a distinct species most closely related to the modern lion) without manes, even if they display clear male characteristics such as the presence of a scrotum, suggesting that manes were absent in this species. [18] [20] [21]
The lion is a large cat of the genus Panthera, native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult male lions are larger than females and have a prominent mane. It is a social species, forming groups called prides. A lion's pride consists of a few adult males, related females, and cubs. Groups of female lions usually hunt together, preying mostly on medium-sized and large ungulates. The lion is an apex and keystone predator; although some lions scavenge when opportunities occur and have been known to hunt humans, lions typically do not actively seek out and prey on humans.
The Barbary lion was a population of the lion subspecies Panthera leo leo. It was also called North African lion, Atlas lion and Egyptian lion. It lived in the mountains and deserts of the Maghreb of North Africa from Morocco to Egypt. It was eradicated following the spread of firearms and bounties for shooting lions. A comprehensive review of hunting and sighting records revealed that small groups of lions may have survived in Algeria until the early 1960s, and in Morocco until the mid-1960s. Today, it is locally extinct in this region. Fossils of the Barbary lion dating to between 100,000 and 110,000 years were found in the cave of Bizmoune near Essaouira.
The Khuzestan Plain is the relatively flat region of Iran where the Khuzestan province and the cities of Ahvaz, Susa and Abadan are located. Khuzestan Plain borders Mesopotamia and is separated from it by the Shatt al-Arab river.
Panthera leo leo is a lion subspecies present in West Africa, northern Central Africa and India. In West and Central Africa it is restricted to fragmented and isolated populations with a declining trajectory. It has been referred to as the northern lion.
The history of lions in Europe is part of the wider history of the lion species. The rediscovery and confirmation of their presence in Europe, already known by myths, historical accounts and ancient art, was made possible by the finds of fossils of Pleistocene, Holocene and Ancient lions excavated in Europe since the early 19th century. The first excavated lion fossil was found in southern Germany, and described by Georg August Goldfuss using the scientific name Felis spelaea. It probably dates to the Würm glaciation, and is 191,000 to 57,000 years old. Since then, older lion skull fragments were excavated in Germany and in other parts of Europe, including in Western Europe. Some of them were described by Wilhelm von Reichenau under Felis fossilis in 1906. These are estimated at between 621,000 and 533,000 years old. The modern lion inhabited parts of Southern Europe at least since the early Holocene. Overall, lion fossils and remains span from Greece to the United Kingdom and Russia, covering most of the continent.
The Zagros Mountains forest steppe is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in Western Asia. The ecoregion extends along the Zagros Mountains, stretching from eastern Turkey and northern Iraq to southern Iran.
Fauna in Armenia is diverse given the country's relatively small geographic size, owing to the varied habitats created by the area's mountainous terrain. Armenia is an important area for migratory animals; about 350 different bird species were recorded in the country. Many of the world's domesticated animals originated in the area Armenia is located in, and the mouflon, the ancestor of domesticated sheep, is present there. Research suggests that about a quarter of the animal species in Armenia are internationally endangered. The mouflons are suffering a great population decline due to poaching and habitat loss, and the Sevan trout, which made up thirty percent of the fish in Lake Sevan, have virtually disappeared.
Shirvan State Reserve in Azerbaijan was established on the area of 177.45 square kilometres (68.51 sq mi) of a part of Bendovan State Game reserve in 1969 for the purpose of protecting and increasing the number of water birds. The area of the reserve was expanded to 258 square kilometres (25,800 ha) in 1982.
The yellow-throated marten is a marten species native to the Himalayas, Southeast and East Asia. Its coat is bright yellow-golden, and its head and back are distinctly darker, blending together black, white, golden-yellow and brown. It is the second-largest marten in the Old World, after the Nilgiri marten, with its tail making up more than half its body length.
Afghanistan has long been known for diverse wildlife. Many of the larger mammals in the country are categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as globally threatened. These include the snow leopard, Marco Polo sheep, Siberian musk deer, markhor, urial, and the Asiatic black bear. Other species of interest are the ibex, the gray wolf, and the brown bear, striped hyenas, and numerous bird of prey species. Most of the Marco Polo sheep and ibex are being poached for food, whereas wolves, snow leopards and bears are being killed for damage prevention.
The wildlife of Kazakhstan includes its flora, fauna, and funga and their natural habitats.
The Sumbar is a fast flowing river in southern Turkmenistan and northern Iran. It a tributary of the Atrek. The name Sari-su means yellow water in Turkic languages, but is applied to a number of other rivers as well. It used to be an area for Caspian tigers in Turkmenistan, until the last individual was killed in January 1954.
The Caucasian wildcat is a European wildcat subspecies that inhabits the Caucasus Mountains and Turkey.
Göytəpə — is a city and the most populous municipality, except for the capital Cəlilabad, in the Jalilabad Rayon of Azerbaijan. It has a population of 15,500. Renamed in 1992, 'Göytəpə' in Azeri means "Blue Hill."
The tigon is a hybrid offspring of a male tiger and a female lion, or lioness. They exhibit visible characteristics from both parents: they can have both spots from the mother and stripes from the father. Any mane that a male tigon may have will appear shorter and less noticeable than a lion's mane and is closer in type to the ruff of a male tiger.
The Sherobod, Sherabad or Sheroboddaryo is a right tributary of the Amu Darya in the Surxondaryo Region, southern Uzbekistan. It is about 177 kilometres (110 mi) long and drains an area of 2,950 square kilometres (1,140 sq mi). The river rises in the arid foothills of the Gissar Range and flows south through steppe before flowing through a mountain ridge to empty into the Central Asian plain near the city Sherobod. The river turns south and flows past Qorasuv, to flow into the Amu Darya near the village Shurab. Because of irrigation water use, most of the water in the Sherabad no longer reaches the Amu Darya and its eventual destination in the Aral Sea. After flowing out of the mountains the remaining water in the river is usually salty so it is unsuitable for further water use. In dry years, most of the river dries up before reaching the Amu Darya.
Lake Parishan is a lake in Iran. The Parishan Lake is in Jereh and Baladeh District in Fars Province and is the largest freshwater lake in the country. It receives very small amount of water from feeder rivers and the whole lake or wetland is a protected area, as it is considered a globally significant wetland ecosystem. Another lake in this area is that of Arzhan. The whole protected area is called "Arzhan National Park." This area is an important sanctuary for birds.
Konstantin Alekseevich Satunin was a Russian zoologist who graduated at Moscow State University in 1890. From 1893 onward, he worked at a sericulture station in the Caucasus. He was a senior specialist at the Department of Agriculture between 1907 and 1915, concentrating on applied zoology and hunting in the Caucasus. He studied the mammals of Russia and Central Asia and published many works on the fauna of the Caucasus, mainly in the field of mammalogy but also entomology, herpetology, ichthyology, ornithology, sericulture, zoogeography, game management science and fishing. For example, he gave descriptions of a Caspian tiger from Prishibinskoye.
The Ussuri dhole, also known as the Eastern Asiatic dhole and the Chinese dhole, is the nominate subspecies of the dhole wild dog native to Asia. The Ussuri dhole subspecies is originally native to the Russian Far East and parts of China, the Korean Peninsula and Mongolia, though it is presumed regionally extinct or extirpated in most of its historical range, and it possibly exists as fragmented populations in the Russian Far East.
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