text: Most mammals have promiscuous mating systems; however, in the case of the lion, promiscuity is prevented by the complex pride unit.  Within a pride, lions are promiscuous, but since the pride limits the number of females and males available for mating, lions are termed as being polygynandrous.  This means that each male mates with multiple females and each female mates with multiple males.  Nearly all reproduction in lions is done by the resident prides.  So, if you’re not in a pride…you’re not mating (Bertram 1975).  Mating within a pride is first come first served.  Since there is no dominance hierarchy amongst males or females, no mate selection is found to occur (Viljoen 2003).