Most animal societies are led by males, but for some, it’s the females who rule.
These matriarchal groups are usually led by older and wiser individuals. Female leadership has evolved primarily in mammals, which tend to live longer and have fewer offspring than other types of animals. Animals with female leaders are those where females have a disproportionate influence on the collective behavior of group members, according to a 2020 study in the journal. Leadership Quarterly.
Female leadership takes many forms. Females of some species, such as bonobos and spotted hyenas, rule by forming alliances and coordinating attacks against males, while others, such as African savannah elephants and orcas, prevail through their wisdom.
So without further ado, here are six examples of animals with female bosses.
African savannah elephants
African savannah elephant (African Loxodonta) is the largest species of elephant and the largest land animal on Earth. According to WWFTHESE elephants roams sub-Saharan Africa in family units of about 10 females and their young. Often, these family units come together to form “clans” of several hundred elephants that are led by a single female matriarch. This leadership role is usually assigned to the older and more experienced women of the group.
The matriarch makes decisions about where the herd goes, how to respond to threats and crises, and when and where to sleep. She also leads the elephants to food and water, which is no small feat, given that African savannah elephants search about 300 pounds (140 kilograms) of vegetation and up to 50 gallons (190 liters) of water per day to maintain their large size.
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But the matriarch’s wisdom and authority don’t necessarily make her an autocrat, according to the nonprofit. Voices of the Elephant. Other group members can make suggestions and influence where the elephants move, for example. There can also be conflict between females, and this sometimes bubbles up when the matriarch dies and leaves behind a power vacuum.
Male African savannah elephants associate with female-led herds only during the mating season.
Spotted hyenas
Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is a very social and intelligent species. Like the elephants of the African savannah, spotted hyenas live in female-led clans that can span anywhere from six to 90 hyenas. Female spotted hyenas are not much larger than their male counterparts, but they are much more aggressive and therefore may have more power. Females also have a pseudopenis – an elongated clitoris that is so large it looks like a penis – and does not have a vaginal opening, meaning they look almost identical to men. As a result of their anatomy, female spotted hyenas have complete control over who they mate with. When choosing to mate, females retract their pseudopenis to form an opening into which males can insert their penis.
Female spotted hyenas assert their dominance through aggressive behavior, as well as by joining together, research has shown. Females receive much more social support in hyena clans than males, meaning females are more likely to command and “win” interactions between the two sexes. Disparities in social support arise because male spotted hyenas leave their natal clan when they reach puberty. The social bonds they form when they join a new clan are weaker than those of females who have grown up together.
Orcas
Orcas (Orcinus orca), also known as killer whales, are one of the top predators of the ocean. They live in matriarchal societies, with separate pods consisting of a female, her offspring, and her offspring. Pods consist of a few to more than 20 male and female orcas, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some pods may band together in large groups to socialize, hunt or mate – but eventually, orcas always return to their natal pods.
Orcas rely on other group members for survival. For example, killer whales have been observed grabbing food to feed a member missing two fins, the Daily Mail reported. But it’s the females who do the heavy lifting: Orca mothers often take care of their sons until adulthood hunting them and driving them around, even if it affects the mother’s chances of reproduction. Older women are too responsible for guiding the pod to food and for teaching young people new skills that help them survive.
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Orcas are one of only a handful of species going through menopause, which frees up time for older women to care for their grandchildren. research has shown that the care of the grandmother significantly increases the survival of her grandchildren and that the death of the grandmother, in turn, leads to increased mortality in these young people. The evolution of menopause in killer whale societies also ensures that there is no competition for mates between older and younger females.
Bonobos
Bonobos (Paniscus pan), along with chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), are our closest living relatives. Bonobos live in large social groups composed of males and females, but unlike chimpanzee groups, bonobo communities are led by females. Women resolve conflicts through sexual contact. To comfort the victim of a fight, for example, a female hugs the victim and sways her hips from side to side to make contact with the genitals. Sexual contact is thought to regulate stress in bonobos and ease tension between group members so they can coexist peacefully.
Female bonobos disperse when they reach sexual maturity and migrate to new groups, while males stay in their natal group. In their new groups, women use sex to quickly create strong social bonds with unrelated and often higher status women. They nurture these connections throughout their lives and use them orchestrate attacks against men. Asserting their dominance in this way, female bonobos ensure their access to high quality foodwhich increases their reproductive success and prevents unwanted sexual behavior from men.
the bees
the bees (Apis) are famously ruled by a single adult queen. These bees live in giant colonies with tens of thousands of female workers who build the nest, forage and care for the brood. Workers are sexually undeveloped and do not lay eggs. Only the queen can reproduce, and she does so with the help of several hundred male “drones” who join the colony only in late spring and summer. Drones have no stingers, wax glands, or pollen baskets; their main purpose is to fertilize the queen’s eggs, after which they drop dead, according to University of Delaware.
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A queen bee ensures the survival of the colony by laying up to 250,000 eggs a year and possibly more than 1 million in her lifetime, according to the University of Delaware. (Queens can live up to five years.) She is also responsible for maintaining the colony by producing a pheromone that unites the hive and gives it an individual “identity” that keeps her workers loyal. To perform her duties and in return for her hard work, the queen needs constant attention and a steady supply of royal jelly – a nutrient-dense milky substance produced by female workers. The number of eggs the queen lays depends on the amount of food she receives and on her workers who build wax cells for her eggs.
Lemurs
some lemur species have female leaders. In ring-tailed lemurs (Catta lemur), who live in mixed social groups up to 25 individuals, females can dominate because they need raw food to reproduce successfully. Females behave aggressively towards males and females when competing for food, but men are more submissivewhich means women come out on top.
Female lemurs constantly win conflicts with men, but the reasons for this are still unclear. Lemurs are monomorphic, meaning that males and females grow to similar sizes and generally look the same, but males seem to feel threatened by females nonetheless. Men of high rank, especially, better to skip a meal than to fight hungry women. By avoiding antagonistic interactions with females, these males can improve their chances of reproducing.