she is beautiful – Question of Smoke

currentsinbiology:

Female Lioness at Oklahoma Zoo Grows Mysterious Mane

Though rare, maned lionesses are not unheard of.

In Botswana’s Okavanago Delta, maned lionesses are regularly spotted, likely the result of a genetic anomaly shared by related animals.

Embryos that were disrupted either at conception or during gestation likely caused the genetic mutation, Luke Hunter, president of the big-cat conservation group Panthera, told National Geographic in 2012.

“Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, the problem may have occurred during gestation if the fetus was exposed to increased levels of androgens—male hormones such as testosterone,” Hunter says.