Study
Sexual Selection, Temperature, and the Lion's Mane
West, Peyton M.; Packer, Craig
Science, 2002
Life-sized model lions differing only in mane length and mane colour were presented to wild lions, and the responses of males and females recorded. These were combined with long-term records relating mane characteristics to individual condition, injury history and temperature.
- Studied in
- Panthera leo
- Sample size
- life-sized model lions presented to wild prides, plus long-term mane records
Females preferred models with dark manes; males avoided them. Dark-maned males had higher testosterone, better nutrition, longer reproductive tenure and produced offspring that survived better. Mane length signalled recent fighting success while colour signalled condition. Manes also impose a thermal cost, and males in hotter areas have shorter, lighter manes.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
The mane is a condition-dependent signal shaped by sexual selection, and its expression is constrained by thermoregulation.
How NatureHQ reads it
The model experiment is the reason this is more than correlation: presenting dummies identical except for the mane isolates the one variable, and both sexes respond to it in opposite and predictable directions. The thermal cost is what makes the signal honest — carrying a dark mane in the heat is expensive, so only a male in good condition can afford one. It also explains a fact often reported as a curiosity: the maneless lions of some hot regions are not a different kind of lion, they are the same trade-off resolved differently.
- Models cannot reproduce scent or movement, so responses may understate real assessment.
- The mane-condition relationship is correlational within the long-term dataset.
- Serengeti and Ngorongoro populations; mane variation elsewhere is described rather than tested.
Four dummy lions, identical except for the hair
What is the mane for, and what do other lions read from it?
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: American Association for the Advancement of SciencePublished in Science or Science Advances (AAAS).
doi.org/10.1126/science.1073257
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-11.