I have been very confused about the new Dorsal Fur encounter for Feb.

The encounter text states:

"Your attention is caught suddenly by a silhouette with an unusual shape. Upon a second glance, you notice the silhouette belongs to a lone male lion whose mane reaches down the entirety of his back. Not only is his mane unique, but his fur has extraordinary patterns as well. "

Using the flirt option, you get this text:

"Despite the jealousy you feel, you can't deny his dorsal fur is quite attractive—you can certainly see others falling for this peculiar feature. Actually, you're falling for it a little, too. The male takes a step back, noticing your change in body language and the familiar spark in your eyes."

The text prompts seem to indicate that the assigned sex of the NPC is male, and that the "his" pronouns used are not just representative of gender. Yet, all of the art for this NPC shows no real mane.

I understand that largely, the art / NPCs are probably not meant to be a direct 1:1 comparison of player lions. However, no other lion mutations displayed in the Feb event that I have noticed appear differently than how they would in a players den. The ferus male has the same look as a ferus in a players den, as does the smilus male, the primal male, the felis female, the tigon female, the leopon male, the dwarves, and the mane shaggy lioness.

All of this seems to point to the NPC being a non-crested mane dorsal fur male. The only mane option that could fit is the adolescent tsavo mane shape.

I'm assuming this encounter is not an indication that the Dorsal Fur mutation will be released from it's crested mane shape prison (unfortunately), and that kind of info is something that would be released in a news post.