Lions have thrived in Africa’s plains and forests for ages. The special senses they evolved to live in the wild are truly awesome.
Their sight, smell, and hearing let them find prey from several miles away. Put together, their super sensory system makes lions one of the best hunters in the animal kingdom.
The Senses Lions Have
Here are the senses of lions.
Vision
Lions see way better than us humans. Their eyes have special features to help them hunt.
Excellent Eyesight
Lions have a fabulous long-distance vision. Their eyes have lots of rod cells that allow clear sight even when it’s very dark. And lions’ huge eyes collect more light. So lions see well at night when other animals struggle.
According to a 2021 vision study, lions see 20/13 versus our 20/20. That means they can spot an object clearly from 20 feet away that we’d need to be 13 feet from! So lions have eyes as sharp as hawks, with distance vision over 1.5 times better than people.
Great Night Vision
Lions hunt most at dawn and dusk. Their eyes adapt amazingly to see in low light. They have a mirror-like tissue in the back of their eyes that bounces light around to be sensed again.
This gives light a second chance to be picked up by rod cells. Scientists think this tissue lets lions see six times better than us at night!
Spot Moving Prey
Lions also detect movement way better than we can. Their side vision allows them to catch fast motion and camouflaged animals that human eyes would probably miss.
So prey trying to sneak through grass or run off is unlikely to get past a lion’s great eyes adapted to see movement.
Hearing
Along with awesome sights, lions also hear much better than us. This helps them successfully hunt the savanna.
Excellent Sense of Hearing
Lions detect higher and lower pitches than humans can hear. Their ears pivot separately to pinpoint faint sounds. At night, lions hear prey walking or rustling up to 1.6 kilometers away!
A 2022 hearing study found lions detect sounds from 40 Hz to 60,000 Hz. We hear from 64 Hz to 23,000 Hz. So lions pick up very high squeaks that we can’t. This allows them to easily catch squeaking mice and other prey.
Hear Prey Miles Off
A lion’s great auditory system means they can detect prey several miles off depending on weather and habitat. Their hearing is key for night hunts.
Lions first use hearing to find far-off zebras, wildebeests, and antelopes on the open plains. Then they switch to scent or sight as they get closer.
Talk to Pride
Besides helping hunt, a lion’s sensitive hearing helps pride members talk with roars that go 8 kilometers! Their low roars echo far over the plains.
Lions roar to gather separated pride mates that may be all over their territory. Their sharp hearing detects even faint roars to reunite.
Smell
Most cats smell pretty poorly compared to dogs. But lions have an awesome smell that’s vital for hunting success.
Jacobson’s Organ
Inside a lion’s mouth is a special smell organ called Jacobson’s organ on the roof. It has ducts leading to the nose.
This extra organ lets lions fully process complex scent chemicals from other animals. So while mouth-breathing, lions can detect pheromones or identify animals by their smell marks.
Track Miles Away
Lions slowly stalk prey at night while hidden in bushes or tall grass. Even if the prey gets away, their scent can linger a long way. Lions routinely use their fabulous sense of smell to track buffalo, zebras, and antelopes over a mile off!
Scent Communication
Lions have smelly glands by their eyes, paws, and tails that they use to mark territory borders and ID pride members. Other lions detect these scents from over 650 feet away! So a lion’s great smell defines their turf and warns rival lions off.
Taste
Compared to a lion’s awesome vision and hearing, their sense of taste isn’t quite as strong. But it still helps them find chemicals in prey or plants.
Weak Sense of Taste
Since lions only eat meat, they don’t need great taste like omnivores. They have just 473 taste buds versus our 9,000! But their limited taste lets them avoid rotten meat and get nutrients. Male lions especially use taste when taking over a pride.
They kill cubs from the past main male. To avoid wasting effort on nursing cubs, males taste milk on their fur to see which moms are feeding them.
Still Taste Flavors
While not critical like sight or smell, lion taste allows them to detect different flavors in prey animals and food. Their taste buds identify basic things like fat, salt, and acidity. This helps lions choose nutritious carcass parts and avoid spoiled meat.
Touch
A lion’s touch sense mainly comes from the super sensitive whiskers on their face. The whiskers help them hunt and get around.
Highly Sensitive Whiskers
A lion’s whiskers are thick, special hairs with nerves and blood vessels in their base. Even a tiny whisker vibration sends signals to a lion’s brain. Their whiskers give them awesome tactile environmental awareness.
Feel Air Currents
A key whisker job is feeling the slightest air current shifts around them. As lions hunt prey at night, their whiskers detect disturbances and flows that may reveal obstacles, prey, or even hyena predators.
Their brains make detailed tactile maps from input from the sensitive whiskers.
Feel Ground Vibrations
Lion whiskers also detect faint vibrations in the ground from running prey. When antelope or zebras dash off, their hoof beats make tiny tremors in the dirt that lion whiskers pick up!
So with their vision, hearing, and whisker touch sense, almost no escaping prey has a chance.
Sixth Sense?
While a lion’s main senses like vision and smell are key for survival, they may have an extra sixth sense too.
Sense Magnetic Fields
Recent research on lion movement shows clues that lions can detect magnetic fields to navigate. Scientists saw lions walking toward magnetic north-south lines in unfamiliar areas. Resting lions seem to align themselves to the north-south magnetic axis.
It’s thought they may have brain magnetite crystals that let them sense the earth’s magnetic field for directional awareness. If so, this would be a unique sixth sense lions have that most creatures don’t.
Help Them Navigate
This still unproven magnetic sense may help lions navigate strange lands when following migrating prey herds. It would allow them to stay oriented when tracking through tall grass where they can’t see the sun or landmarks.
So magnetoreception could work with their awesome vision, hearing, and smell to give lions detailed environmental perception.
Wrap Up
In summary, lions have amazing senses that let them rule the African plains as top hunters. Their vision, hearing, and smell go way beyond human abilities.
Special adaptations like terrific night sight, accurate sound locating, and extra scent organs in their mouths help lions hunt well. Whiskers adapted for a great tactile environmental feel and an unconfirmed sixth magnetic sense give lions additional sensory aids.
The lion surely earns its title as King of the Jungle thanks to its array of sharp senses that make it one of the most perceptive and successful hunters in the animal kingdom!
