Hairs trapped in cavities of the infamous lions that hunted humans in Kenya’s Tsavo region in 1898 revealed the surprising prey of the massive cats, a study found.

The century-old teeth of these lions – long mythologized as 'man-eaters' – are now revealing new secrets, including not just whether they ate humans but also clues as to why.

A woman who lost her arm to a lion attack at a Queensland zoo has been identified as Joanne Cabban, a schoolteacher from NSW.

The lions’ teeth were damaged during their lifetimes. Study co-author Thomas Gnoske found thousands of hairs embedded in the exposed cavities of the broken teeth. Photo Z94320 courtesy Field ...

The lions had numerous dental injuries, including partially broken canine teeth, which allowed layers of hair from their prey to build up over time.

DNA confirms these 19th-century lions ate humans “Tsavo Man-Eaters” killed dozens of people in late 1890s, including Kenya-Uganda Railway workers.

Tsavo lion teeth. (Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago/CC BY-SA) The lions' mtDNA suggests they were brothers, as suspected.