The african lions mane has been one of the biggest topics in science debates, some say the mane is to protect the lions neck, others say its just for display for the females...lets compile all the facts that most people dont know about and some so called experts are in denial of:
Trainers basing their opinions upon observation and experience:
Clyde beatty
"Nine times out of ten a lion will lick a tiger," he said. "A tiger will fight with all four feet and with his teeth, while a lion generally uses only his two forepaws and teeth. But a lion Is tougher than a tiger. he can take it better. See that big lion in that cage over there? See how much heavier lie is than a tiger, especially around the neck and shoulders? Ills mane protects him, too. And the lion is a more aggressive fighter than the tiger. he keeps attacking, keeps trying for the tigers throat until he gets It. The tiger generally grabs hold where he can-maybe on the lion s shoulder or a paw-and won t let go. That way the tiger doesn't hurt the lion vitally unless he hap- pens to be lucky enough to get a throat hold In the beginning-but a flon s throat Isn't so easy to reach."
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1937/04/11/page/105/
Clyde beatty would know more than most because he has seen an accumulated amount of fights through out his career:
Bert Nelson:
The speaker said that the lion is truly the king of beasts. While tigers and lions do not fight in their native jungles because one inhabits Africa and the other India, "even an old and feeble lion will lick any tiger ever born." He said the tiger is a "back fighter." It rolls over on its back, tries to plant ts fangs in its enemy's throat while disembowelling it with its hind legs. The mane of a lion, which surrounds its neck and extends down its belly, protects the lion from such attacks, he explained.
~The Kokomo Tribune 26 December 1934 › Page 2
The speaker said that the lion is truly the king of beasts. While tigers and lions do not fight in their native jungles because one inhabits Africa and the other India, "even an old and feeble lion will lick any tiger ever born." He said the tiger is a "back fighter." It rolls over on its back, tries to plant ts fangs in its enemy's throat while disembowelling it with its hind legs. The mane of a lion, which surrounds its neck and extends down its belly, protects the lion from such attacks, he explained.
~The Kokomo Tribune 26 December 1934 › Page 2
Indian Expert Damoo Dhotre:
THE FAMOUS Dhotre, an Indian animal trainer who appeared with many European and American circuses during the 1940s and 1950s was once asked whether a lion or a tiger would win in a battle to the death. Dhotre said he would back a lion. although the tiger is faster, the lion is at least equal in strength. Although the tiger is as fierce and savage as any animal in the jungle the lion has boundless courage" he said in his memoirs in 1961 The heavy mane around the lion's neck also makes it difficult for another animal to grip the lion's throat with his teeth, according to Dhotre.
~Lion Picked In Fight: Milwaukee Sentinel - Jul 4, 1970
Charles gay:
"The lion." he insists, "is the greatest competitor in the animal world. The lion can whip a tiger for just one reason it has everything the tiger has on attack speed, quickness, courage, etc., and it has a perfect defensive armor against teeth and claws in the thick, matted mane that protects both throat and stomach. It would be almost impossible for a tiger or a leopard to reach a lion's throat, and the throat is the main target usually they first target."Few people understand the tremendous strength and the amazing quickness of a full grown lion say between the ages of six and ten. They have big, heavy paws as you can see and yet these paws work with the quickness of a cat's. They are like flashes of lightning."
Roman Proske:
.
Trevor bale:
”The hairy mane the lion's throat, preventing the much-speedier tiger from killing the African cat during a battle and giving the lion the reputation of being "king.”
https://www.google.com/search?q=site:news.google.com+trevor+bale+mane+king&hl=en&gbv=2&sei=v0aYVqX0IoTijwOz_pj4Ag&gws_rd=ssl
Terrel jacobs
So the facts are according to observation of over 2,000 big cats in fights amongs captivity wild bred animals:
- The mane can sheath the lion against claws and bites
- It can absorb blows lessening the impact
- It can make the lion appear bigger and intimidate
Science organizations:
National geographic
Antipredator Defenses in Birds and Mammals
If so, it is conceivable that a single male lion attacked by a pack of hyenas could reduce injury with the help of its mane. Manes protect males in intera specific in other species. It may additionally confer advantages by limiting wounding in the neck region.
~Timothy M. Caro
Facts about lions
Their mane serves a number of purposes: a) it identifies him as a mature male to other lions, even at a distance b) it gives an appearance of increased size with little weight cost c) the condition of the mane conveys the level of health and vigour to female lions d) it can help protect the head and neck area in fights with other lions.
"A lion's mane protects during fights— softening blows of his enemies"
~Daily News*-*May 2, 2003
Big Cats: And Other Animals:
The Atlas lion differs from other lions in that the male has a long, thick, dark mane that extends along the back and ... hairs of the mane protect the neck and throat from scratches and bites during fights
The Virtues Unveiled
The male lion's mane, which increases with age, adds grandeur to this ferocious cat, and serves to visually intimidate other lions. It also protects the lion's throat against lethal bites during a fight. Allegorical (Greek, Allegoria) To say something ...
No intruding lion is in any doubt that a lion territory is occupied. Maintaining territories involves a considerable amount of work, because they can be quite large. ln good lion habitat, such ... A lion's mane helps to protect his neck during fights. http://books.google.com/books?id=rPP...ed=0CCQQ6AEwAA
Antipredator Defenses in Birds and Mammals
If so, it is conceivable that a single male lion attacked by a pack of hyenas could reduce injury with the help of its mane. Manes protect males in interaspecific in other species. It may additionally confer advantages by limiting wounding in the neck region.
~Timothy M. Caro
According to science organizations out in the field:
- The mane can ward off intruders by intimidating factors
- The mane can tangle an attacking animals claws giving enough time for the lion to kill its attacker
- It protects the lions head and neck from harm by other animals
Naturalist, Zoologist, Biologist and other people who have studied the lion:
Kailash Sankhala Indian natrualist opinion on the mane
Craig packer reinstate’s lion mane’s are for protecting
George B. Schaller
Male lions are the only cats with manes. This collar of long, thick hair covers the head, except the face, and the neck down to the shoulders and chest. The mane makes the male look even bigger and stronger than he is. It also protects him during fights. The long, thick hair softens the blows of his foes.
Schaller, George B. World Book Encyclopedia. 2002 .
https://www.google.com/search?q=Male+lions+are+the+only+cats+with+manes.+This+collar+of+long%2C+thick+hair+covers+the+head%2C+except+the+face%2C+and+the+neck+down+to+the+shoulders+and+chest.+The+mane+makes+the+male+look+even+bigger+and+stronger+than+he+is.+It+also+protects+him+during+fights.+The+long%2C+thick+hair+softens+the+blows+of+his+foes.&tbo=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=bks&ei=sKCzUZu7Os_0igKerIGYAQ&sa=N&gws_rd=ssl
George Conklin
https://www.google.com/search?q=site:news.google.com+trevor+bale+mane+king&hl=en&gbv=2&sei=v0aYVqX0IoTijwOz_pj4Ag&gws_rd=ssl
John Varty:
"The manes on the male lions make them look larger and more fearsome. They protect the neck from blows from the opponent.
18 May 1996 by Dereck Joubert
After spending some 25 000 hours studying lions in Botswana I have come across just three maneless lions, so they are as rare as David Featherbe records in the latest issue of New Scientist to arrive at our camp in Botswana (In Brief, 24 February, p 8).
When speculating about why male lions have manes you have left out the most important reason. When male lions attack each other they mostly rear up on their hind legs and slap out at each other's heads and necks. The neck and throat are vulnerable and a full-bodied mane acts as protection against blows.
Remember that it is not necessary and often not desirable in nature for a conflict to end in the death of the vanquished, so much of this fighting is for display, with the mane giving protection, and many of these battles for territory are won on psychological ...
lions mane protects
The thick mane around the lions head helps to protect its neck from the enemys paws while fighting for its territory.
It also serves to protect the head and neck when fighting
It also protects the lion's neck from his enemy's teeth.
~Harriet E. Huntington Doubleday, Jan 1, 1981 - Science - 63 pages
His mane also protected his neck in fights, and fights were inevitable for Leo
~Jeannette Hanby Houghton Mifflin, 1982 - Nature - 221 pages
The mane acts like a thick, woolly scarf to protect his neck from the teeth or claws of unfriendly lions
~Jonathan Bocknek Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2001 –
A mane makes them look bigger and scarier, and the extra fur protects their neck in a fight.
~James FieldParragon, Incorporated, Jun 1, 2003 - Animals - 256 pages
Curious lions will stick their tails straight up in the air when greeting each other. Male lions have a shaggy mane of dark hair that covers the neck. This mane makes lions appear larger and more threatening. It also protects the head and
neck ...
~Melissa S. Cole, Tom Leeson, Pat LeesonBlackbirch PressInc, Mar 1, 2002 –
A mane also helps protect a lion's throat from bites and
~Catherine NicholsScholastic Inc., 2004 - Juvenile Nonfiction - 59 pages
This mane gives the lion an impressive, even regal, appearance. It makes the male look even bigger than he is, and protects his neck during fights with other males.
~Jane Goodall, Leslie McGuire 1989 –
No doubt the mane has other functions too: it probably protects its owner's neck against claw wounds
~Brian C. R. Bertram Scribner, Jan 1, 1978 - Lion - 253 pages
The mane is a collar of long, thick hair that covers the lion's head, except for the face and neck, down to its shoulders and chest. The lion's mane makes the lion look even bigger and stronger than he is. It also protects him during fights
~George Shea, Anne Marshall Runyon Emc Pub, Sep 1, 1981 - - 40 pages
Physically, the lion has better forequarters and the great advantage of his mane because it protects the carotid artery
~William Ballantine (artist.) Rinehart, 1958 - Nature - 344 pages
he male has a beautiful mane that apparently protects the neck when lions fight one another.
~Marshall Cavendish Corporation Marshall Cavendish, 1993 - J
Probably the mane helps protect a lion's neck from injury when he fights.
~ William Darrach HalseyMacmillan Educational Corp., 1980 – Reference
The neck and throat are vulnerable and a full- bodied mane acts as protection against blows.
~New Scientist, Volume 150, Issues 2024-2030New Science Publications, 1996 - Science
The male lion has a heavier body, and his mane protects his head and neck during fights with other males.
~Sally Morgan Raintree Steck-Vaughn, Jan 1, 2003 - - 32 pages
The distinctive mane that adorns a male lion may signal his sex and adult status to females and males alike. It may also protect his head and neck during fierce combat with other males.
~ Great cats John Seidensticker, Susan Lumpkin Weldon Owen Pty, Limited, 2000 - Felidae - 240 pages
Mane attraction By the time a male lion is five years old, its mane is virtually fully grown. An impressive mane may help to attract the interest of females. lt also makes a lion look big and fierce, and protects its neck during fights.
~ Big cats J. Sheikh-Miller, S. Turnbull Edc Pub, Jan 1, 2003 –
The function of the mane is uncertain, but probably it is to protect the neck from injury while fighting.
~Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 8 G. Newnes, 1959 - Encyclopedias and dictionaries
The mane seems to intimidate rivals, and possibly lionesses. It also protects the neck during fights.
~Kingdom of cats National Wildlife Federation National Wildlife Federation, 1987 - Pets - 204 pages
It also protects him during fights. The long, thick hair softens the blows
~World Book, 2000 - Encyclopedias and dictionaries - 538 pages
the Lion's mane protects his neck from danger when fighting.
~Animals of East AfricaClive A. SpinageCollins, 1962 - Zoology - 160 pages
The mane also protects the lion's neck from the bites of other male
lions and enemies.
~ Grrr!: a book about big cats Melvin Berger, Gilda Berger Scholastic, Inc., 2005 - Nature - 40 pages
A mane makes them look bigger and scarier, and the extra fur protects their neck in a fight
Wild cats and other dangerous predatorsClare Oliver, Ross WattonParragon, 2001 - Pets - 32 pages
the thick hairs of the mane protects the neck and throat from scratches and bites during fights with another male
Did you know? The larger skull and thick coarse-haired mane of a male lion protect it from blows to the head, both from struggling prey and rival males head clashing is part of male territorial behavior
Men the mane helps protect the males neck during fighting. It also makes him look bigger
Mane a bunch of long think hair that grows a lions neck and head. The mane helps protect the lions in fights
Adult male lions grow a thick mane of hair. The mane helps to
make a male look large and impressive when fighting other males. The mane also protects the lion's head and neck during fights.
A mane protects a lion's head and neck during a fight
In the lion world, there is a huge benefit to being big and strong and having a thick, bushy mane, which protects the vulnerable neck.
The males are somewhat larger than females, and their abundant mane protects the neck, which is the usual point of attack
Lions may not seem as though they need protection, but the shaggy mane covering the neck of the male may act as protection when they engage into the death fights over access to the females
The mane of the lion forms a good defense against the attack,; of rival lions
The male has a distinctive mane that apparently protects the neck
when lions fight one another
The bigger a lion is, the fewer other lions will try to steal his pride. Manes also protect a lion's neck. When lions fight other lions for control of a pride, theylike to bite each other on the neck. This is how lions usually kill their prey.
The males, as is well known, occasionally engage in terrific battles, the old Lions being protected from the attack of the young ones by the huge tuft of hair.
Thus the splendid mane of the lion appears to be chiefly useful in partially
shielding his neck and shoulders from the teeth and
his thick mane in protecting his neck from the teeth of his rivals
The neck of the maie is protected by a thick mane,
The other portions of his body may be wounded, but if the arterial system of the neck is thus protected,
- The lions manes are used to protect them against hyenas and other interspecific fights
- Attract females in letting them know they are the healthy and in prime fighting condition
- The mane is used to attract the female lions the biggest maned lions being in fighting shape
- The bigger darker male lions show they are in better health and strength
Zoo keepers and Animal owners:
What do you think of when you picture a lion? (Answers from audience) When I think about lions, the first thing that comes to mind is a lion’s mane. Male lions are the only cats to develop manes. Almost like a prince earning his crown, a young male’s mane develops as he matures, and a full, dark mane can signal health and increased fighting ability to potential challengers, as well as mates. When they have to fight, a lion’s mane helps to protect it’s most vulnerable part: it’s neck. Lions attack their prey by using brute force and massive sharp teeth to bite and hold their prey, but attempts to bite or claw another lion’s throat are deflected by the cushion of the mane.
ten times stronger than any human being. It only takes one stroke of the paw for a lion to break the necks of their prey... A typical characteristic is the illustrious lion mane. It takes up to five years for it to grow to its fullest splendor. The mane serves as protection to the male in battles with other animals. For this reason, the female lioness does not have a mane. Moreover, it would be more of a handicap, as the females are entrusted with hunting and breeding. To a further extent, studies show that male lions living in colder regions tend to have a fuller mane than those that are found in warmer climates. Thus, they serve as a protection against the cold
A male lion can devour up to 20 kilos of meat per meal. A lion’s roar serves as a defense mechanism and can be heard up to 8 kilometers away.
Lions hardly have any natural enemies because of their known strength. Only hyenas must be defeated occasionally because of the food rivalry between these two species, which has existed since primeval times. Saber tooth cats, for example, an extinct wildcat line, often left at least half of their game for hyenas, mostly because back then, they had undeveloped teeth that did not allow a full consumption. Hence, only the lion breed with the shorter teeth survived, which, in turn, resulted in the extinction of the referred to type of hyena. Thus, through evolution, a new type of hyena evolved that had to fight the lions for food from then on. Usually the lions win the fights and kill the hyenas
Male lions have an impressive large, bushy mane of darker fur around their head which makes them appear larger (without increasing his weight or need for food), helps scare away other males and attracts females. The mane also helps protect the lion’s face and neck when fighting other male
Special Adaptations:
William Bridges Bronx zoo
"The thick mane around the lions throat offers a certain amount of protection and a tiger forced to fight a lion in his own den would fair badly"
The male’s mane helps protect his head from blows, bites and wounds during a fight. They have powerful shoulders and forelegs to bring down prey. Their large paws have retractable claws that are used to hold down their prey. Lions have rough tongues to help remove meat from the bones of their prey.
Mane Attraction Male lions have an impressive large, bushy mane of darker fur around their head which makes them appear larger, helps scare away other males and attracts females. The mane also helps protect the lion’s face and neck when fighting other males.
The male lion’s thick mane helps it look bigger and protects its throat when fighting off predators
African lion Coarser grass, Savannah Mane for protection
Mane protects the neck area during competitive fights;
Males have a large mane about the neck. The mane protects the neck for sparring with other males and indicates mating fitness. Lions are usually regarded as the only truly social cat.
In the past, with the exception of Central Sahara and forest, Lions lived all over Africa. In Southern Asia, only a few Lions now roam free in the natural Gir reserve in the Indian province of Kathiawar. The male lion’s mane develops when it reaches three years of age. It protects the Lion in fights with rivals when it could be seriously hurt by sharp claws. Lions are very social and live in groups
The mature male lion has a mane that covers the backside of the head, and the shoulders. The extent of the mane varies from individual to individual, with some having no mane at all, while others have a luxurious mane that runs onto the body, along the abdomen, and even onto the fronts of the back legs in exceptional specimins. The mane varies in color from the rest of the body, and tends to grow darker with age. Some lions in the Serengeti area and from North Africa have a nearly black mane. Just like th body hair, the mane color is determined by the ratio of dark hairs to light hairs present. The mane hair is stiff and wiry, like stiff horeshair. Besides it's primary role of protecting the male during fights, it has been discovered that female lions prefer males with bigger and darker manes.
Lions will often move in search of territory and one of the most vulnerable times is when they try and establish a territory of their own. Wounds are often inflicted around the rump from fights amongst males - these could be scratches or bite puncture wounds from the large canine teeth. At about five years of age a male lion has developed a thick mane of hair to protect their necks during fierce battles.
Why does a male lion (Panthera leo krugeri) have a mane? A thick mane makes a male lion look bigger (more threatening) and protects histhroat against other predators or the thrashes of prey.
Of course the males are famous for their manes, another unique feature of lions. The mane is considered to play an important role in protecting the throat during fight between competing lions
PseudoScience
In case you arent familiar with that term:
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief or practice presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to the scientific method.[1][2] A field, practice, or body of knowledge can reasonably be called pseudoscientific when it is presented as consistent with the norms of scientific research, but it demonstrably fails to meet these norms.[3]
From natgeo interview on payton west and craig packers opinion:
A protective role for the lion's mane has long been assumed but this assumption has never been tested. We compared patterns of injury, mane development and adult mane morphology in a population of African lions and found no compelling evidence that the mane conferred effective protection against wounding. The mane area was not a specific target of attacks, and injuries to the mane area were not associated with higher mortality than other injuries. Regions of the mane that were most frequently attacked did not show earlier onset of mane growth in subadult males or longer/darker mane hair in adult males. Adult males appeared to be wounded less frequently on the mane area than predicted by surface area, but it is unclear whether this trend was only caused by observer bias from decreased visibility. We conclude that, although the mane may have conferred protection during the early evolution of the trait, protection appears to be secondary to the strong sexually selected advantages of the mane as a condition-dependent ornament.
These were the manicans that peyton west constructed to see if the lions mane offers protection:
(Peyton west manicans)
Peyton west theory is if lions dont attack the mane, then it doesnt offer protection, but of course the lions sometimes dont because they understand, as stated they target the rump area to where tigers and leopards ect, blindingly assail at the mane...in a lions view he targets the rump area because its exposed via un-protected, its afterall his own armor so he would understand its function. Hence peyton wests theory of attacking the armored area means the armor doesnt protect is flawed, and disputed in the same fashion if someone struck at the legs of a armored person who has no armor on the legs, doesn't prove that the upper armor doesn't offer protection.
Following in peyton west and criag packers former thoughts that the mane offers no protection of their pseudo science testing via fake lions would result in a fake answer, its trailed by many fakes and deceptive pseudo accounts as well:
This comes from Jim tullys book circus parade:
Roman proskes incident didnt have proske himself initially say that the lion died, it just said the lions neck was crushed in the process of the tiger helping him escape, the lions name is achmed, and further looking through his archive might just show that same lion alive and performing again, much like the mogul fight with falkendorf, who newspapers reported the lion prince might have died, yet the very next performance herr flakendorf said the two brother lions caesar and prince picked a fight with mogul, this time beating the tiger up, proving that the lion prince wasnt dead the original for buckland said it was a young lion.
Also many fights claim to have a lions throat ripped out in the 18-19th century, but if you read the entire source, it will be the exact same account via Charles jamrachs incident, only twisted from hear say.
Published as lion, giving a deceptive account that this lion had a mane, we can see that the encloser at there were only a lioness with two cubs, most likely it was 1 of the cubs:
It was not clear why the death of one of the three lions in the zoo was publicized so late
The 3 lions at Ankara zoo:
- Packers census showed than 200+ lion fights none were confirmed to have had their throat torn out
- Peyton west interview showed no tangible evidence of a lions mane not working as a protecting factor
True science:
Regular rope, is basically small strands of string that intwine and is brade'd to increase its Tensile/Durability and overall density to withstand pressure/friction, this makes it dense to where a small skinny rope can hold a ship in place that weighs over one hundred thousand tons:
Hair is made out of protein. Proteins, by and large, are great at tension and awful at compression. For tensile strength, yes, hair is stronger than steel.
- Science confirms the lions mane although has little compression, would have the strongest tension
- The quantity and volume of the lions mane would act as a solid barrier against superficial claws and fangs.
Photo comparison:
In showing how much the tigers neck is more visible compared to the lions:
(The circumference of the mane is 3-4x the size of the man)
(The circumfrence of the tigers neck is the same size as the lady)
Tigers fur 1-3 inches long
Brown bears 3-5 inches
Lions mane 1-2 feet long
- The lions mane is too long for any claws of big cats to get through entirely, claws are 3 inches, while the mane is upto 2 feet long.
- The lions mane makes his neck, trachea, carotid artery and throat not visible compared to tigers making it more difficult to target.
The best sum up of the lions before Charles darwin even was cited:
In many parts of that continent his dimensions considerably exceed those which have been mentioned as the average in the preceding part of this notice, the length being sometimes more than nine feet, and the height nearly five.
The mane of the lion is not confined to the upper part of the neck, but surrounds it on the sides, and even on the chest below. It is very closely set; and the hair of which it is composed is, in the largest specimens, more than two feet in length. This formidable clothing is with difficulty penetrated with any ordinary weapon. When the animal is prowling or using only his common powers of locomotion, in the use of which he is generally slow and majestic, this mane lies a considerable way over the back, hangs down over the shoulders, and thus protects the powerful muscles which put his destructive arms in motion from all changes in temperature, so that they are never stiffened by cold or relaxed by heat, even when he finds it necessary to prowl in the open deserts, either during the night or during the day.
There is a beautiful adaptation of nature in this particular part of the covering of the lion. On the African deserts, the heat, even far without the tropics, is excessive during the day; but during the night the cold is often much greater than would readily be supposed. During the night, those animals do not, and cannot run very far, because they are in so far benumbed with the cold, and that cold exhausts them on their inarch, as cold is observed to do with horses during a keen frost. The lion, however, protected he is by the mane, is subject to no such calamity. The muscles which he uses in his prowling march are strong, and they are so slowly used as not be in the least heated or fatigued, when those which ho has to use with greater effort while he springs, are secured by the thick covering of matted hair, which invests the neck, shoulders, and chest. The Hoie-s, in general, prowls less in the open desert thai the lion, and therefore the same kind of protection is not so necessary in her case.
Though the lion has probably more powerful muscles than any other of the mammalia, those muscles have not the same firm and rigid character as those of the eagle. The reason of this is, as it should seem, that their powerful action is much more momentary.
This figure is not in the attitude from which the tiger takes its spring, but in that of advancing in a low and crouching attitude in order to gain the distance at which he shall take it; and this is perhaps the best for displaying both the litheness and the symmetry of the animal. It will be seen in the figure, which is equally faithful and spirited, that the tiger is a much more symmetrical animal than the lion; that, though the fore paws are still stronger and more firm in their texture than the hind ones, yet, that the strength of the tiger is more uniformly distributed over the whole length of his body than that of the lion; and consequently, that he is much more an animal of chase.
The length of the tiger is rather more in proportion to the whole size of the animal than that of the lion, and the tail is also rather longer; the length of the body sometimes exceeds nine feet, and the tail is about five feet in length; the legs arc rather shorter, and the animal bends them more, and has more of the snake-like flexure of the spine when he walks. The head is less square than that of the lion, the features are not so grim and formidable to appearance; the cheeks appear much more rounded, which is in part owing to the thick fur with which thev are covered, and the absence of the eyebrows and the mane cause the animal to look less ferocious than the lion,...
The absence of the eyebrows and mane indicate a difference of habit in the animal, and this difference is farther pointed out by a difference in the structure and appearance of the eyes themselves. The shaggy mane of the lion defends him, as already observed, from the great changes of temperature to which the nature of his haunts exposes him; and as, during the dry season, even the bushes among which he resides afford him but little shade from the rays of the perpendicular sun, the projecting brow makes up the deficiency. The richer vegetation and more expanded foliage in the haunts of the tiger, render those protections unnecessary in his case; and thus, as nature is never redundant any more than she is defective, the tiger is not furnished with these.
Tangible proof that a lions mane offers protection:
Lucia zoras lion, has its mane tangle the lions claws long enough for the lion to kill him, which is the same thing the national geographic stated in its previous issue:
Which lead to an exhausted tiger:
Two badly bitten about the neck, but why did only the tiger die and not the lion too? Thats because the mane prevents and limits the amount of lacerations and bite wounds to the neck:
A tigress who ambushed a lion, couldnt even get pass the mane and was killed:
Tangible evidence that the unprotected (maneless) neck is vulnerable
According to John varty, he mentions the lion in this case (of fighting) has a protecting factor:
"The manes on the male lions make them look larger and more fearsome. They protect the neck from blows from the opponent.
https://youtu.be/NzKIl1HRIE0
Having a no mane on the tiger allows the lion to more easily get to the tigers throat even if their is a struggle:
again the throat where a lion would have had a mane:
both male tiger and lioness died, because both had no mane:
The lioness was the aggressor and attacked first, fastening her teeth with a vice like grip into the neck of the tiger,
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884-1942), 11 August 1924, Page 6
a lion tore out a tigers throat
https://books.google.com/books?id=miHFBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA133&dq=a+lion+killed+two+tigers&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qzsmVcLfHYX7oQSGs4GoCQ&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=a%20lion%20killed%20two%20tigers&f=false
Today we found T-36 with a broken neck and severly brusied body.
The officials suspect the tiger could have been killed in a territorial fight with another tiger. “There are canine marks on tiger’s neck .Also there were pug marks of another tiger in the vicinity suggesting a territorial fight,” said Sawai Madhopur collector Giriraj Singh Kushwaha.
The carcass with multiple injuries on the neck was found late Thursday evening from the Mala range of Pilibhit forest reserve. "Prima-facie it appears that the tiger, aged around three years, died in a territorial clash with another tiger," Divisional Forest Officer V.K. Singh told reporters in Pilibhit
The death could be the result of a fight with some other big cat as certain canine marks were found on the neck resulting in penetrating wounds, said Dr Rajiv Garg who performed the post mortem
MYSORE: A male tiger, aged about six years, was found killed in a territorial fight, near Gadde Haadi of Nagarahole National Park in the district on Sunday. Marks of deep paws and clawswere found on the neck of the deceased tiger. the nails and pelt were not removed from the carcass, it could be assumed that the tiger was killed n the territorial fight, not in any other fashion, said a Forest official.
Tiger Reserve in Umaria district, said CH Murlikrishnan, director of the tiger reserve. The carnivore was suspected to have been killed in a territorial fight with tigers as deep injury marks were found on its neck and back, he said.
It appears that the male moved in a flash towards the cubs, and the mother was forced to take quick action. With a leap and a bound she attacked the male from the rear, clawing his right foreleg before sinking her canines in and killing him.
(Tiger has his throat ripped out)
Factors in why other pantheras have not formed a mane:
- No social system like prides with lions up to 30+ at a time forcing into more frequent fights.
- Only the male lion forms coalitions which are used to enhancing fighting more frequent.
- These groups constantly claw and bite one another which other big cats rarely do month to month
- They live in the open, always on ground and always head on against hyena and wild dogs, which leopards, cheetahs and tigers would run, since they run/ran, there was no reason why a buffer was needed.
So the mane has now been shown (when more data is there to be analyzed besides just theory and speculation) the lions mane is not a anatomy that is one or the other, it has multiple functions, whether primary or secondary, or even if just as is, the lions mane protects him against harm and amplifies his strength, intimidates and shows his status and health for mating and for combat. the tigers like all other big cats still have their carotid artery, throat and trachea exposed...this is why there are accounts that show this, in abstract form, in photo form and in video form as well, by quite alot more than vice versa, there is almost no accounts of male lions, specifically ones with large manes being killed in the same.
Edited by Prime - 15-Jan-2016 at 00:09