Dietary behaviour of man-eating lions as revealed by dental microwear textures

Abstract Lions (Panthera leo) feed on diverse prey species, a range that is broadened by their cooperative hunting. Although humans are not typical prey, habitual man-eating by lions is well documented. Fathoming the motivations of the Tsavo and Mfuwe man-eaters (killed in 1898 in Kenya and 1991 in...

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Autores principales:	Larisa R. G. DeSantis, Bruce D. Patterson
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/de64917cc861420bac7188de4c269de7
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:de64917cc861420bac7188de4c269de72021-12-02T16:07:03ZDietary behaviour of man-eating lions as revealed by dental microwear textures10.1038/s41598-017-00948-52045-2322https://doaj.org/article/de64917cc861420bac7188de4c269de72017-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-00948-5https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Lions (Panthera leo) feed on diverse prey species, a range that is broadened by their cooperative hunting. Although humans are not typical prey, habitual man-eating by lions is well documented. Fathoming the motivations of the Tsavo and Mfuwe man-eaters (killed in 1898 in Kenya and 1991 in Zambia, respectively) may be elusive, but we can clarify aspects of their behaviour using dental microwear texture analysis. Specifically, we analysed the surface textures of lion teeth to assess whether these notorious man-eating lions scavenged carcasses during their depredations. Compared to wild-caught lions elsewhere in Africa and other large feliforms, including cheetahs and hyenas, dental microwear textures of the man-eaters do not suggest extreme durophagy (e.g. bone processing) shortly before death. Dental injuries to two of the three man-eaters examined may have induced shifts in feeding onto softer foods. Further, prompt carcass reclamation by humans likely limited the man-eaters’ access to bones. Man-eating was likely a viable alternative to hunting and/or scavenging ungulates due to dental disease and/or limited prey availability.Larisa R. G. DeSantisBruce D. PattersonNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Larisa R. G. DeSantis Bruce D. Patterson Dietary behaviour of man-eating lions as revealed by dental microwear textures
description	Abstract Lions (Panthera leo) feed on diverse prey species, a range that is broadened by their cooperative hunting. Although humans are not typical prey, habitual man-eating by lions is well documented. Fathoming the motivations of the Tsavo and Mfuwe man-eaters (killed in 1898 in Kenya and 1991 in Zambia, respectively) may be elusive, but we can clarify aspects of their behaviour using dental microwear texture analysis. Specifically, we analysed the surface textures of lion teeth to assess whether these notorious man-eating lions scavenged carcasses during their depredations. Compared to wild-caught lions elsewhere in Africa and other large feliforms, including cheetahs and hyenas, dental microwear textures of the man-eaters do not suggest extreme durophagy (e.g. bone processing) shortly before death. Dental injuries to two of the three man-eaters examined may have induced shifts in feeding onto softer foods. Further, prompt carcass reclamation by humans likely limited the man-eaters’ access to bones. Man-eating was likely a viable alternative to hunting and/or scavenging ungulates due to dental disease and/or limited prey availability.
format	article
author	Larisa R. G. DeSantis Bruce D. Patterson
author_facet	Larisa R. G. DeSantis Bruce D. Patterson
author_sort	Larisa R. G. DeSantis
title	Dietary behaviour of man-eating lions as revealed by dental microwear textures
title_short	Dietary behaviour of man-eating lions as revealed by dental microwear textures
title_full	Dietary behaviour of man-eating lions as revealed by dental microwear textures
title_fullStr	Dietary behaviour of man-eating lions as revealed by dental microwear textures
title_full_unstemmed	Dietary behaviour of man-eating lions as revealed by dental microwear textures
title_sort	dietary behaviour of man-eating lions as revealed by dental microwear textures
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/de64917cc861420bac7188de4c269de7
work_keys_str_mv	AT larisargdesantis dietarybehaviourofmaneatinglionsasrevealedbydentalmicroweartextures AT brucedpatterson dietarybehaviourofmaneatinglionsasrevealedbydentalmicroweartextures
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Dietary behaviour of man-eating lions as revealed by dental microwear textures

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