Editing Lion (section)

===Communication===
{{multiple image|perrow=1|image1=Lion cub with mother.jpg|caption1=Head rubbing among pride members is a common social behaviour.|image2=Lion (Panthera leo) marking its territory ... (52806595064).jpg
|caption2=A male lion raises his tail while marking his territory.}}

When resting, lion socialisation occurs through a number of behaviours; the animal's expressive movements are highly developed. The most common peaceful, tactile gestures are [[Bunting (animal behavior)|head rubbing]] and [[social licking]],<ref name=Schaller85>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 85.</ref> which have been compared with the role of [[allogrooming]] among primates.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sparks |first=J. |title=Primate Ethology |chapter=Allogrooming in primates: a review |pages=148–175 |orig-year=1967 |editor=Morris, D. |publisher=Aldine |location=Chicago |date=2011 |isbn=9780202368160}}</ref> Head rubbing, nuzzling the forehead, face and neck against another lion appears to be a form of greeting<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leyhausen |first=P. |title=Verhaltensstudien an Katzen |edition=Second |year=1960 |publisher=Paul Parey |location=Berlin |oclc=636909227 |language=de}}</ref> and is seen often after an animal has been apart from others or after a fight or confrontation. Males tend to rub other males, while cubs and females rub females.<ref name=Schaller858>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 85–88.</ref> Social licking often occurs in tandem with head rubbing; it is generally mutual and the recipient appears to express pleasure. The head and neck are the most common parts of the body licked; this behaviour may have arisen out of utility because lions cannot lick these areas themselves.<ref name=Schaller8891>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 88–91.</ref>
{{listen|filename=Lion raring-sound1TamilNadu178.ogg|title=Lion roar|description=A captive lion roaring}}

Lions have an array of facial expressions and body postures that serve as visual gestures.<ref name=Schaller92102>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 103–117.</ref> A common facial expression is the "grimace face" or [[flehmen response]], which a lion makes when sniffing chemical signals and involves an open mouth with bared teeth, raised muzzle, wrinkled nose, closed eyes and relaxed ears.<ref>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 95.</ref> Lions also use chemical and visual marking;<ref name=Schaller92102/> males [[Territory (animal)#Scent marking|spray urine]]<ref name="Schaller116">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=7ann2dYn9iYC&pg=PA116 p. 116.]</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Andersen, K. F.  |author2=Vulpius, T. |year=1999 |title=Urinary volatile constituents of the lion, ''Panthera leo'' |journal=Chemical Senses |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=179–189 |doi=10.1093/chemse/24.2.179 |pmid=10321819 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and scrape plots of ground and objects within the territory.<ref name=Schaller92102/>

The lion's repertoire of vocalisations is large; variations in intensity and pitch appear to be central to communication. Most lion vocalisations are variations of [[growling]], [[snarling]], meowing and roaring. Other sounds produced include puffing, bleating and humming. Roaring is used to advertise its presence. Lions most often roar at night, a sound that can be heard from a distance of {{convert|8|km|0}}.<ref name=Schaller10313>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 103–113.</ref> They tend to roar in a very characteristic manner starting with a few deep, long roars that subside into grunts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Eklund |first1=R. |last2=Peters |first2=G. |last3=Ananthakrishnan |first3=G. |last4=Mabiza |first4=E. |title=An acoustic analysis of lion roars. I: Data collection and spectrogram and waveform analyses |journal=Speech, Music and Hearing Quarterly Progress and Status Report |volume=51 |page=1 |year=2011 |url=http://roberteklund.info/pdf/Eklund_et_al_2011_LionRoars.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001083629/http://roberteklund.info/pdf/Eklund_et_al_2011_LionRoars.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ananthakrishnan |first1=G. |last2=Eklund |first2=R. |last3=Peters |first3=G. |last4=Mabiza |first4=E. |title=An acoustic analysis of lion roars. II: Vocal tract characteristics |journal=Speech, Music and Hearing Quarterly Progress and Status Report |volume=51 |page=5 |year=2011 |url=http://roberteklund.info/pdf/Ananthakrishnan_et_al_2011_LionRoars.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001083621/http://roberteklund.info/pdf/Ananthakrishnan_et_al_2011_LionRoars.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>