[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-113767-en":3,"doc-seo-113767-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},113767,687197207057,"Sage","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0",7,"Healthcare","The Lion’s Mane - Peyton M. West","The Lion’s Mane examines why male African lions grow manes, tracing early ideas from Darwin through later hypotheses and systematic testing efforts. The article frames the mane as a sexually selected trait using its key features: sexual dimorphism, puberty-linked development, and marked variability within and between populations. It evaluates how sexually selected characteristics can enhance reproductive success via male–male competition and mate choice, and summarizes research strategies in the Serengeti to determine whether the mane functions as a signal of overall fitness.","A reprint from  \nAmerican Scientist  \nthe magazine of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society  \nThis reprint is provided for personal and noncommercial use. For any other use, please send a request to Permissions, American Scientist, P.O. Box 13975, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, U.S.A., or by electronic mail [to perms@amsci.org](to perms@amsci.org).©Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society and other rightsholders  \nThe Lion’s Mane  \nNeither a token of royalty nor a shield for fighting, the mane is a signal of quality to mates and rivals, but one that comes with consequences  \nPeyton M. West  \nhe African lion is one  \nTmost admired and  \nof the world’s best studied  \nspecies, yet its most striking feature has long been a mystery: Why do lions have manes? Charles Darwin, who knew almost nothing about lions, was one of the first to suggest an answer, writing,“The mane of the lion forms a good defence against the one danger to which he is liable, namely the attacks of rival lions.” This unsupported hypothesis prevailed until 1972, when George Schaller published his seminal work, The Serengeti Lion. Schaller suggested that males bore sumptuous manes to signal their quality as a prospective mate, similar to the displays of several other polygamous species. Although these two hypotheses were not mutually exclusive, scientists tended to favor one or the other. When I began my research in 1995 neither theory  \nhad been systematically tested.  \nCraig Packer introduced the question to me in a casual conversation about potential thesis projects, months before I started graduate school at the University of Minnesota.“There are really two big mysteries left about the big cats,” he said.“Why did saber tooth tigers have saber teeth and why do lions have manes?” I remember thinking that there wasn’t much I could do about saber tooth tigers, but  \nPeyton M. West earned an undergraduate degree in English literature from Yale University, where she avoided science classes altogether. A love of animals led her to take several years of biology coursework, coincident with an internship at the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and a full-time job studying recombination in the soil bacterium Acinetobacter calcoaceticus. She received a Ph.D. in ecology, evolution and behavior from the University of Minnesota in 2003 and worked in the Mammal Department at the Bronx Zoo before taking time off to have a baby. Address: 1524 29th Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 [Internet: west0302@umn.edu](Internet: west0302@umn.edu)  \nthe lion’s mane—I was hooked. The possibility of answering such a basic question was exactly the reason I got into science in the first place. I soon joined Craig’s lab despite his warning:“it’s not an easy project….”  \nThree basic features guide any thinking about the lion’s mane. First, the mane is sexually dimorphic (only males have manes); second, the mane begins development at puberty; and third, the mane is highly variable both within and between populations. Manes vary in color from almost white to deep black and in overall size from the slightest “Mohawk” and sidewhiskers to a long, thick coat that covers the shoulders and chest. Furthermore, individual manes are not uniformly sized or colored but are often a patchwork of lengths and hues. These features are consistent with the idea that the mane is a product of sexual selection. Most sex-selective traits are sexually dimorphic, begin development at puberty and are highly variable. According to the theory of sexual selection, such characteristics evolve under the stress of competition for mates.  \nSexually selected traits can increase reproductive success in two ways. The first, known as male-male competition, increases the ability of males to compete against other males for females. Traits in this category include armor to protect males from opponents, weapons to disable opponents or signals of fighting prowess that males use to assess opponents. Generally, males with ","cbCaisncYm02j8Lr","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisncYm02j8Lr","pdf",789184,1,11,"English","en",105,"# The Lion’s Mane\n## Darwin and competing hypotheses\n## How sexual selection explains manes\n## Testing mane function in the Serengeti","[{\"question\":\"What early explanation did Darwin propose for why lions have manes?\",\"answer\":\"Darwin suggested the mane provides defense against attacks by rival lions. The hypothesis remained dominant until later work questioned and refined it.\"},{\"question\":\"What key traits of the lion’s mane support the idea of sexual selection?\",\"answer\":\"The article highlights that manes are sexually dimorphic, begin developing at puberty, and vary widely within and between populations in color and size.\"},{\"question\":\"How do researchers evaluate whether the mane affects male reproductive success?\",\"answer\":\"The work targets whether the mane influences male–male competition, mate choice, or both, using evidence from the Serengeti and the role of mane characteristics as fitness proxies.\"}]",1784776883,28,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":27},"the-lions-mane-peyton-m-west","",{"@graph":35,"@context":84},[36,53,67],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-lions-mane-peyton-m-west/113767/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-23",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"What early explanation did Darwin propose for why lions have manes?","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"Darwin suggested the mane provides defense against attacks by rival lions. The hypothesis remained dominant until later work questioned and refined it.","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"What key traits of the lion’s mane support the idea of sexual selection?",{"text":79,"@type":75},"The article highlights that manes are sexually dimorphic, begin developing at puberty, and vary widely within and between populations in color and size.",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"How do researchers evaluate whether the mane affects male reproductive success?",{"text":83,"@type":75},"The work targets whether the mane influences male–male competition, mate choice, or both, using evidence from the Serengeti and the role of mane characteristics as fitness proxies.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":86,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":88,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":91},[92,96,100,104,109,114,117,122,127,130,134],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},40,"healthcare",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":120,"slug":121},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":126},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":129},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":131,"slug":133},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":135,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":137},19,"General","general"]