Final answer:
Lions depend on photosynthesis because they consume herbivores that feed on plants, which convert sunlight into energy through photosynthesis. The energy from the sun is thus indirectly provided to the lions through their food chain.
Step-by-step explanation:
Carnivores, such as lions, depend on photosynthesis to survive because they are part of a food chain that begins with plants. These plants use photosynthesis to convert sunlight into chemical energy, which is then passed on to herbivores when they consume the plants. Carnivores, in turn, consume these herbivores and obtain the energy that originally came from the sun. Even though lions do not directly participate in photosynthesis, the energy they need comes from this process since their prey, herbivores like gazelles, are reliant on the energy derived from photosynthesized plant matter.
A food chain explains which organism eats another organism in the environment. The food chain is a linear sequence of organisms where nutrients and energy is transferred from one organism to the other. This occurs when one organism consumes another organism. It begins with the producer organism, follows the chain and ends with the decomposer organism. After understanding the food chain, we realise how one organism is dependent upon another organism for survival.
Several interconnected food chains form a food web. A food web is similar to a food chain but the food web is comparatively larger than a food chain. Occasionally, a single organism is consumed by many predators or it consumes several other organisms. Due to this, many trophic levels get interconnected.