An African lion specimen at the Shanghai Natural History Museum has recently become an internet sensation. With its bulging eyes and comically awkward expression, it has been widely mocked online as “looking not so smart” —  sparking a wave of memes and drawing crowds of curious visitors to the museum.It turns out that the specimen was originally an adult male lion from Hangzhou Zoo. After it died in 1977, it was sent to the museum to be taxidermized. When first completed, the lion looked impressively lifelike — fierce-eyed and majestic.But due to the technical limitations of its time, the specimen was internally supported by an iron frame and stuffed with straw. Over the decades, these materials deteriorated and shifted, causing the facial structure to slowly warp — accidentally turning the lion into the unintentional meme star it is today.