Caudal outgrowth
The most amazing thing in lions is their tail ending in a brush of black hairs, not only the latter is vital against flies, but the end is a vertebra undeveloped, discovered by Didymus of Alexandria. The latter found at the end of the tail, hidden among the hairs, a horny black stud, and he supposed that this was the body that, when the lion, in time of danger, violently shook its tail, it stung to the sides like a spur and excited to jump on his enemies. This observation went almost unnoticed, and that is not modern naturalists had no knowledge, either because they doubt the révoquassent, none of them spoke to Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who confirmed the accuracy of the fact anatomical reported by Didymus, but without endorsing the view of it on the uses of this part.
All the tip of the tail of the lion, black ergot consistency cornea, 8 to 11 mm in length, is surrounded at its base by an annular fold of the skin and firmly adheres to a single follicle apparently glandular ; color is that of the horn, also becoming increasingly obscure, until the end that is almost black. It is laterally compressed in its whole extent from the tip to the right third of its length, it bends slightly at this point, which is marked by a low depression from this curvature, it expands rapidly until at its base. These parts, however small, cornea and the tip are literally buried in the middle of the terminal tuft of the tail. Gerard Paul Deshayes, in 1829, describes this part as a sort of nail or production cornea shaped like a cone slightly curved towards the tip, adhering by its base to the skin only, and not to the last vertebra , which it is separated from 4 to 6 mm. This pin can be easily detached, the adhesion is not very strong and it remains soft at its base throughout the game which adhered to the skin. It often fails on the specimens, the presence of this body seems independent of age and the sex
Physical performance
It is commonly believed that the lions are faster than males and can reach speeds close to 60 km/h, but this speed can be maintained only over short distances. Very muscular and long, they can make remarkable leaps, of about 3.70 meters in height and 11 meters longueur |
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