answersLogoWhite

0

They have the fur to keep them warm in the winter and speed to hunt and get away from hunters and can live in the wild.

Lions are highly evolved creatures. They have many, many adaptations which would take hours to explain. Basically, though, you can look into the method it hunts, the method it rears its cubs, the kind of society in which it lives, and the physical traits it has which make it a supreme predator in its given environ.

a)Coloration-the tawny color of a lion hels keep it camoflauged

b)weapons-it has claws and teeth that make it a stellar killing machine, no matter the size of the prey (prey in Africa is very large)

c)shape-cats come in various shapes and body types. The lion is interesting because it is so much like the cougar/puma/panther/mountain lion (all the same species, just living in different areas) we know in North America. It is stellar at hunting across flat ground like a cougar, it can lower its body to hide in tall grass, and it can spring forth at tremendous speeds. It can climb and hunt from trees like a panther, and it is adept at navigating rocky and treacherous terrain like a mountain lion/puma. They have thick necks to protect their jugulars from attack via other lion or hyena, and extremely quick relfexes to avoid trampling and goring by prey animals like a wildabeast or a wild boar.

d)society-there are more females than males, and the males, while much, much stronger, are very well too large to successfully stalk and kill prey for an entire pride. The females in a lion pride do over 90 percent of the hunting and killing of prey, and the male feels free to take what he wishes. Although it seems like he is the least important in this respect, he honestly has the most control over the pride. It is his job to defend the pride in the case of an attack (3 hyenas would make quick work of the huntresses, but would find themselves sorely outmatched by a male lion), and defend the cubs while the females hunt. In the interests of continuing the evolutionary chain with the most productive genetic material, the lion society has adapted to only allow one male in a pride (in rare cases males have been known to work together, but generally only one breeds). Rogue males generally roam from territory to territory finding a pride they think they can take over, and then try to kill the reigning 'lion king' of the pride. This way, the strongest genetic material breeding within each pride at any given point. It is a ruthless method, but it works, hence the strength of the lion we see today.

These are but a few ways to look at their adaptations. Evolutionary science goes much farther into it, studying the curvature and thickness of the canine teeth to the strength of the backbone, the denisty of bone matter, the methods they have to keep their body temperatures at a median level, their metabolic rates, the list continues for pages, and pages, and pages, only listing the aspects of this animal which have adapted to the harsh, yet fertile land that is Africa. I suggest doing reaserch into the many physical parts of the lion's adaptation, and then tackling the behavioral aspects of the animals regionally (lions in wooded areas will adapt differnely than those in the Serengetti!) a Google scholar search will reveal many, many studies on the African lion. A trip to your local or school library to study scolarly journals will do the same. Doubltless it is not hard to find print research on this topic.
Lions adapt to any environment according to the availability of prey, water and shelter. Lions will hunt what ever prey is available to hunt, therefor either getting bigger or smaller. Eg. the lions in Chobe National park are really big as they started specializing in hunting elephants and Cape buffalo. As the size of the prey increase the size and weight of individuals increases and so does the size of the pride. The color of its fur blends in with the surrounding grassland, making it invisible to its prey.
They live alone for happiness
lions have sandy fur so they blend in at the savannah
lions have sandy fur so they blend in at the savannah

User Avatar

Wiki User

8y ago

What else can I help you with?