Male lions with dark and long head fur are ‘warmer’

2002/08/23 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Zoologia

It is known that the male lions have a long and beautiful head coat, and so far it was thought that in the fights had around their head protected. It is also clear that there is a lot of difference between lions and lions: long, short, dark, clear... A study that has now been published has made it possible to know the importance of color and the length of the coat when attracting the female.

In fact, according to this research published by the journal Science, lions like long and dark-haired males. To find out, researchers from the University of Minnesota (USA) have studied for five years the behavior of Serengetic lions in Tanzania and have conducted tests with specially prepared mannequins. These mannequins looked like male lions and tested several wigs to find out which was the most attractive for females. So they have seen that the lions prefer long and dark haired males.

As in other species, the appearance of the hair indicates much the health of the individual, age... In addition, through blood tests, they have discovered that dark and long fur is related to a high level of testosterone. This hormone also makes male lions more aggressive, so they can better protect the female and the young.

However, male lions with high testosterone level do not have everything in favor: through an infrared camera they have seen their testicles are warmer, thus producing less sperm.