THURSDAY, August 22, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- A shock of dark hair, it seems, is the 'mane' attraction when female lions go hunting for a mate.
Lady lions prefer male lions with dark manes because it's a good indication the male has relatively high testosterone and nutrition levels, says a University of Minnesota study in tomorrow's issue of Science.
Like a well-camouflaged zebra, the evolutionary benefits of manes on male lions remained hidden to scientists until now. The researchers, Peyton M. West and Craig Packer, conducted field experiments and used 30 years of long-term data to reach their conclusions.
Other findings showed that male lions tend to be the ones who select females for breeding but that the females do get to choose when they outnumber the males.
The researchers also discovered that male lions with dark manes are "hot" -- literally.
Using infrared thermography to scan the lions' bodies, West and Packer determined that dark-maned male lions are hotter than those with lighter manes. They also found that dark manes grow even darker in cooler times of the year and in cooler habitats.
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