LIONS: Are cats in the felidae family of the order carnivora.
Common Name
African lion
Kingdom ~Animalia
Phylum ~ Chordata
Class ~Mammalia
Order ~ Carnivora
Family ~ Felidae
Genus Species ~ Panthera (panther, leopard) leo (lion)
-They being to genus Panthera.
-They are the largest cats in Africa but not in world.
-Lions are regarded as social cats because of following reason.
a.They cooperate in hunting.
b.They live together in a pride which is composed of closely related Males,Females, with their cubs and one to two pride Males.
c.They feed together by sharing a kill.
d.Lactating Mother cross suckle cubs to increase disease immunity as well as to increase survival rate of cub incase of a dying mother.
-Lions are cats because they have rectractile claws,and also they have facial expression.
-They are ambusher stalking prey animal quckly and are noctunal.
Lions are roar for the reason that are;
-To cummunicate.
-To advertise presence in their territories.
-To leisure in a close.
-To intermidate prey animals so that they can ponic all directions to become victims. And Also They have a piece of apparatus called Hyoid which is hanging in throat through which faint sound is amplified to deed sound roar.
Lions are the only truly social cat species, and usually every female in a pride of 5 to 37 individuals is closely related.
An adult lion's roar can be heard up to five miles away and warns off intruders or reunites scattered pride members.
While lions are inactive up to 21 hours a day, in the darkest, coolest hours of early morning the "queens of beasts" hunt as a team to catch a communal meal.
Pride lionesses frequently enter breeding season together and later give birth at the same time which allows them to share nursing and other maternal duties.
Although only one out of four hunting events is successful, dominant males always eat first, lionesses next, and cubs scramble for scraps and leftovers.
Ecology and Conservation
Lions are the largest African carnivores and a hungry lion pride feeds on many animals that pass through or share its home range. As specialized communal predators, a pride's role includes keeping herbivore populations in balance with the resources available in their area of the plains.
Description
Short-haired, tawny cat; black tail tuft, ears, and lips; newborns with grayish spots which fade to adult color by three months
Male: At maturity, exhibit blond to black manes
Size
Male: 1.7 to 2.5 m (5.5 to 8 ft.), and 1.2 m (4 ft.) at the shoulder
Female: 1.4 to 1.7 m (4.5 to 5.5 ft.), and 1.06 m (3.5 ft.) at the shoulder
The Weight of a Lion
Male: 150 to 250 kg (330 to 550 lbs.)
Female: 120 to 180 kg (265 to 395 lbs.)
The Diet of the Lion
Antelopes, gazelles, warthogs, smaller carnivores, and occasionally Cape buffalo, giraffe, and young elephants
The Incubation period is
98 to 105 days; on average 2 to 4 cubs born
Sexual Maturity of the Lion
Male: 5 years
Female: 4 years
The Life Span of the Lion
Up to 30 years in captivity, 15 years average
Range
sub-Saharan Africa
The Habitat that Lions lives is
Grasslands and semi-arid plains
The lion is a well-muscled cat with a long body, large head, and short legs. Size and appearance vary considerably between the sexes. The male’s outstanding characteristic is his mane, which varies between different individuals and populations. It may be entirely lacking; it may fringe the face; or it may be full and shaggy, covering the back of the head, neck, and shoulders and continuing onto the throat and chest to join a fringe along the belly. In some lions the mane and fringe are very dark, almost black, giving the cat a majestic appearance. Manes make males look larger and may serve to intimidate rivals or impress prospective mates. A full-grown male is about 1.8–2.1 metres (6–7 feet) long, excluding the 1-metre tail; he stands about 1.2 metres high at the shoulder and weighs 170–230 kg (370–500 pounds). The female, or lioness, is smaller, with a body length of 1.5 metres, a shoulder height of 0.9–1.1 metres, and a weight of 120–180 kg. The lion’s coat is short and varies in colour from buff yellow, orange-brown, or silvery gray to dark brown, with a tuft on the tail tip that is usually darker than the rest of the coat.
General characteristics
The lion is a well-muscled cat with a long body, large head, and short legs. Size and appearance vary considerably between the sexes. The male’s outstanding characteristic is his mane, which varies between different individuals and populations. It may be entirely lacking; it may fringe the face; or it may be full and shaggy, covering the back of the head, neck, and shoulders and continuing onto the throat and chest to join a fringe along the belly. In some lions the mane and fringe are very dark, almost black, giving the cat a majestic appearance. Manes make males look larger and may serve to intimidate rivals or impress prospective mates. A full-grown male is about 1.8–2.1 metres (6–7 feet) long, excluding the 1-metre tail; he stands about 1.2 metres high at the shoulder and weighs 170–230 kg (370–500 pounds). The female, or lioness, is smaller, with a body length of 1.5 metres, a shoulder height of 0.9–1.1 metres, and a weight of 120–180 kg. The lion’s coat is short and varies in colour from buff yellow, orange-brown, or silvery gray to dark brown, with a tuft on the tail tip that is usually darker than the rest of the coat.
Male lion (Panthera leo) in the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya.
Male lion (Panthera leo) in the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya.
© Photodisc/Thinkstock
lion
lion
Lioness (Panthera leo).
© Digital Vision/Getty Images
Prides
Lions are unique among cats in that they live in a group, or pride. The members of a pride typically spend the day in several scattered groups that may unite to hunt or share a meal. A pride consists of several generations of lionesses, some of which are related, a smaller number of breeding males, and their cubs. The group may consist of as few as 4 or as many as 37 members, but about 15 is the average size. Each pride has a well-defined territory consisting of a core area that is strictly defended against intruding lions and a fringe area where some overlap is tolerated. Where prey is abundant, a territory area may be as small as 20 square km (8 square miles), but if game is sparse, it may cover up to 400 square km. Some prides have been known to use the same territory for decades, passing the area on between females. Lions proclaim their territory by roaring and by scent marking. Their distinctive roar is generally delivered in the evening before a night’s hunting and again before getting up at dawn. Males also proclaim their presence by urinating on bushes, trees, or simply on the ground, leaving a pungent scent behind. Defecation and rubbing against bushes leave different scent markings
There are a number of competing evolutionary explanations for why lions form groups. Large body size and high density of their main prey probably make group life more efficient for females in terms of energy expenditure. Groups of females, for example, hunt more effectively and are better able to defend cubs against infanticidal males and their hunting territory against other females. The relative importance of these factors is debated, and it is not clear which was responsible for the establishment of group life and which are secondary benefits.
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