King of Beasts Suffers to Be Beautiful   It's not easy being
beautiful, especially when you're a male lion. New research
suggests that what lady lions love most and what other males
fear most is a leo with a long, dark mane--which is precisely
the worst sort of 'do to have in Africa's often sweltering
environs.  Biologists have long pondered the purpose of the
lion's hot, conspicuous mane, which seems at first glance like
more trouble than it's worth. Evolutionary theory holds that
there should be some benefit gained from it, but what might that
be? Two hypotheses have been put forth. The first holds that the
extra fur protects the lion from injuries to the neck and
shoulders. The second posits that the mane makes the lion more
attractive to lionesses and more intimidating to other males.
In the new work, Peyton M. West and Craig Packer of the
University of Minnesota studied the reactions of male and female
lions to various types of manes, using dummy lions to model the
various coifs. They found that whereas