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Genomic study identifies human, animal hair in 'man-eater' lions' teeth

ScienceDaily
Summary
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78% Informative

Two male lions terrorized an encampment of bridge builders on the Tsavo River in 1898 .

They killed at least 28 people before Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson , the civil engineer on the project, shot them dead.

In a new study, Field Museum researchers collaborated on an in-depth analysis of hairs extracted from the lions' broken teeth.

Analysis of hair DNA identified giraffe, human, oryx, waterbuck, wildebeest and zebra as prey.

The lions had consumed at least two giraffes, along with a zebra that likely originated in the Tsavo region.

The absence of buffalo DNA and the presence of only a single buffalo hair was surprising.

VR Score

91

Informative language

99

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45

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formal

Language

English

Language complexity

56

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not offensive

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not hateful

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not detected

Time-value

long-living

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