THE LION`S MANE - Bell Museum of Natural History

THE LION’S MANE
Science in the Serengeti
A Traveling Exhibition from the
BELL MUSEUM
of NATURAL HISTORY
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Why does the lion have a mane?
Does the King of Beasts need his mane for
protection or is it a signal of his power and
fitness? University of Minnesota researchers
Craig Packer and Peyton West were the first
to test these two theories—and their research
reveals surprising facts about the maneʼs true
purpose and its role in attracting a mate.
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5IF-JPOT.BOFenables visitors to learn about lion
biology, behavior and field research by following
the scientific process. The exhibit areas include the
Land Rover Research Station, Lion Identification
Game, and Dummy Lion Experiment. The exhibit
appeals to a general audience and is accessible to
children who visit with their school groups, families, clubs, or other social groups.
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National Geographic, National Public Radio, CNN,
BBC, Science, The Los Angeles Times, and The San
Francisco Chronicle have featured Packer and Westʼs
research.
Exhibition Description
Entrance way
A large photomural of a lion pride on the Serengeti with
sunset sky draws visitorʼs attention and sets the scene for
the exhibition. Lion sculptures and images trace the symbolic importance lions in human cultures from Ice Age
cave paintings to the Lion King musical.
Land Rover
Life-sized images of Craig Packer and Peyton West sit
on the back of their Land Rover. They are surrounded by
their field equipment and images of them at work on lion
research. This section introduces visitors to the researchers
and what it is like to do field research in Africa. Includes
an interactive on lion identification.
Maned Lion
Lion Dummy
A large male lion with long, dark mane roars as it stands
in front of a photomural of African landscape. Graphic
panels surround the lion on front and sides. The front panel
introduces Darwinʼs and George Schallerʼs contrasting
theories on why lionʼs have manes. Is the mane needed for
protection, or is it a signal of male quality? One side panel
looks at lion family life from the female perspective. The
other side looks at male lion behavior. Includes skull of a
lion killed by rival male, touchable tooth, claw and tracks,
and wound identification interactive.
The centerpiece is the actual life-sized toy lion used by
Packer and West in their research. It has numerous bite
holes from being attacked by real lions. Front panel introduces dummy experiments. Right side presents research
from the Serengeti, including video of dummy experiments and hyena call interactive. Experiments found that
females prefer dark-maned males, while males were most
intimidated by dummies with long or dark manes. Left
side presents Westʼs study of mane variation and includes
a mane grading interactive. A large photo-mural of African
savanna forms backdrop.
Maneless Lion
Not all male lions grow large manes. If long, dark manes
are so great, why donʼt all males grow these big manes?
The focus of this unit is a maneless lion. One side explores
how West used a thermal camera to discover that heat stress
was the cost that keeps the mane a true signal of male fitness. The other side presents the dummy experiments done
with the maneless lions of Tsavo, and includes images from
National Geographic. Last panel shows how long-term data
from the Lion Project was used to confirm that males with
long, dark manes really are the king of beasts.