When it comes to bonobo hierarchy, the ladies stick together. New research out of the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior finds that female bonobos team up to keep male bonobos in line, even though the males are larger and stronger than the females.
This type of social structure is uncommon among social mammals in the animal kingdom, and researchers now have a better understanding of why, according to a new study published in Communications Biology.
According to the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior (MPI-AB), male and female bonobos have a strange relationship, at least on a biological level. Among social mammal societies, larger, stronger males are typically the dominant force, controlling mating and food resources.
However, the opposite is true among bonobos. The female bonobos dictate who gets to mate and when. Females also get first dibs on any food sources, while males wait patiently in the treetops ...
