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Cats have a well-deserved reputation for independence. From tabbies to tigers, they hold individual territories. But lions are a glaring exception. Lions’ habit of living socially in prides has long been viewed as an adaptation to life on the African savanna, where grass dominates the landscape and resources like game, water and shade trees tend to be found in clumps.
New research indicates that it was a combination of the savanna landscape and certain behaviors that drove the evolution of lions’ social living.Image credit: Craig Packer, University of Minnesota
