Wen | inspector of the popular science community
As the top predators on the planet, which of the felines or canines is stronger?
This question has always been difficult to answer. Because in the respective camps of both sides, there are beings who can suppress the crowd. For example, lions in felines, and tigers in canines.
So what is the impression of the lion?
In fact, many people's understanding of lions seems to be limited to male lions located in Africa. In many film and television drama works, the African lion is usually used as the protagonist. On the one hand, it is because the African male lion is large and has a very high status in nature. On the other hand, in the African savannah, male lions compete with some of the top predators all the time.
However, many people do not know that among cats, African male lions have a rather unique uniqueness. Recall that in most organisms in nature, the difference between females and males is limited to only a few characteristics. And like the African male lion, females and males are completely two completely different forms of animals, which is absolutely very rare. Moreover, in the big family of lions, only African male lions are like this.
African male lions belong to the leopard subfamily of cats, and the American lion, which is also famous in nature, belongs to the cat subfamily. Although both are lions, there is a big difference between females and males. Usually, African lions are extremely large.
According to relevant statistics, an adult African male lion can average 185 kilograms and has a body length of nearly 2.7 meters. The average weight of female lions is 133.6 kilograms, and their body length is smaller than that of male lions, which can be said to be one of the most feared overlords among the top killers in nature.
However, African lions are very different from females and males. For example, African male lions have relatively short hair, light gray, yellow and brown body colors, and a long circle of brown hairs on the neck that extend to the shoulders and chest. For female lions, the darker the brown coat, the more it tends to attract their attention. At the same time, there is a big difference between female lions and male lions, that is, their ears, and the ears of African lionesses are like a short semicircle.
Interestingly, many people usually refer to African females and mountain lions as the same species. From the outside, there are indeed some similarities between the two. Mountain lions have relatively long ears and a more pronounced spiked appearance at the shoulders. However, mountain lions are generally much smaller than African lions, after all, the two do not belong to a subfamily at all. If you really talk about comprehensive strength, the African Lion is definitely a sure winner.
There is also a species of lion on Earth, the Asiatic lion in India, which is much smaller than the African lion. Unfortunately, the Asiatic lion living in India has been on the verge of extinction in the past two years due to the continuous deterioration of the ecological environment.
Today, the main range of activity of African lions is basically in the continent from the sub-Sahara Desert to the north of South Africa. It has extremely large grasslands and woodlands, and its semi-desert environment is also very conducive to the survival of African lions. Perhaps in a few years, it will become the only habitat for African lions.