maneless lion

{{see also|Asiatic lion#Manes}}

File:Antoin Sevruguin 7 Men with live lion.jpg,{{cite web |author=Sevruguin, A. |title=Men with live lion |publisher=National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, The Netherlands; Stephen Arpee Collection |url=http://archive.asia.si.edu/iran-in-photographs/sevruguin-negatives.asp |date=1880 |access-date=26 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326202724/http://archive.asia.si.edu/iran-in-photographs/sevruguin-negatives.asp |archive-date=26 March 2018 }} notice the lack of its mane, although it might be a young or a female lion.]]

The Asiatic lion is often considered to have a weak mane compared to its cousins in Africa, due to the hot climate in Asia,{{cite book |author=Pocock, R. I. |year=1939 |chapter=Panthera leo |title=The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia. – Volume 1 |publisher=Taylor and Francis Ltd. |location=London |pages=212–222 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/PocockMammalia1/pocock1#page/n261/mode/2up}} 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,{{Cite journal |last= Ashrafian |first= Hutan |year= 2011 |title= An Extinct Mesopotamian Lion Subspecies |journal= Veterinary Heritage | volume= 34 | issue= 2 | pages= 47–49}} 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,{{Cite book |last1=Heptner |first1=V. G. |last2=Sludskii |first2=A. A. |orig-date=1972 |year=1992 |title=Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola |trans-title=Mammals of the Soviet Union, Volume II, Part 2 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation |location=Washington DC |chapter=Lion |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov221992gept#page/82/mode/2up |pages=83–95 |isbn=978-90-04-08876-4}} 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.{{Cite book |last1=Heptner |first1=V. G. |last2=Sludskii |first2=A. A. |orig-date=1972 |year=1992 |title=Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola |trans-title=Mammals of the Soviet Union, Volume II, Part 2 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation |location=Washington DC |chapter=Lion |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov221992gept#page/82/mode/2up |pages=83–95 |isbn=978-90-04-08876-4}}{{Cite journal |last=Barnett |first=R. |author2=Yamaguchi, N. |author3=Barnes, I. |author4=Cooper, A. |name-list-style=amp|year=2006 |title=Lost populations and preserving genetic diversity in the lion Panthera leo: Implications for its ex situ conservation |journal=Conservation Genetics |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=507–514 |doi=10.1007/s10592-005-9062-0|bibcode=2006ConG....7..507B |s2cid=24190889 }}

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.[http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/exhibit_sites/tsavo/maneaters4.html Call the Hair Club for Lions]. The Field Museum. 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.

West African lions are often seen with weak manes or none.{{citation |author1=Schoe, M. |author2=Sogbohossou, E. A. |author3=Kaandorp, J. |author4=De Iongh, H. |title=Progress Report – collaring operation Pendjari Lion Project, Benin |work=The Dutch Zoo Conservation Fund (for funding the project) |year=2010}}{{cite magazine |last=Trivedi |first=Bijal P. |title=Are Maneless Tsavo Lions Prone to Male Pattern Baldness? |magazine=The National Geographic |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0412_020412_TVtsavolions.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020605184139/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0412_020412_TVtsavolions.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 June 2002 |year=2005 |access-date=7 July 2007}}

Lions in Ancient Egyptian art are usually depicted without a mane, but with a ruff around the neck.{{cite journal |author=Nagel, D. |author2=Hilsberg, S. |author3=Benesch, A. |author4=Scholtz, J. |year=2003 |title=Functional morphology and fur patterns in recent and fossil Panthera species |journal=Scripta Geologica 126 |pages=227–239}} The reason for this is not known.{{cite web |url=http://www.aucpress.com/t-LionsAncientEgypt.aspx? |title=Lions of Ancient Egypt |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press }}

File:Colonel Patterson with Tsavo-Lion.jpg|A man-eating Tsavo lion killed by Patterson

File:Lion male with scanty mane at Samburu NR 2.jpg|Male East African lion with a scanty mane at Samburu National Reserve, Kenya

File:West African male lion.jpg|West African lion in Pendjari National Park, Benin

File:Lions_painting,_Chauvet_Cave_(museum_replica).jpg cave painting in the Chauvet Cave, France{{cite book |author=Chauvet, J.-M. |author2=Brunel, D. E. |author3=Hillaire, C. |year=1996 |title=Dawn of Art: The Chauvet Cave. The oldest known paintings in the world |url=https://archive.org/details/dawnofartchauvet0000chau |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Harry N. Abrams}}]]

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.{{Cite book |last=Koenigswald |first=Wighart von |year=2002 |title=Lebendige Eiszeit: Klima und Tierwelt im Wandel |location=Stuttgart |publisher=Theiss |isbn=978-3-8062-1734-6 |language=de}}{{Cite journal |last1=Yamaguchi |first1=Nobuyuki |last2=Cooper

|first2=A. |last3=Werdelin |first3=L. |last4=MacDonald |first4=David W. |date=2004 |title=Evolution of the mane and group-living in the lion (Panthera leo): a review |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=263 |issue=4 |pages=329–342 |doi=10.1017/S0952836904005242 }}

• White lion
• Panthera leo leo
• Panthera leo melanochaita

{{Reflist}}

Category:Lions