Additional Coverage:
Female Bonobos: Strength in Sisterhood
A new study reveals the power of female solidarity in bonobo societies. Observations spanning three decades in the Congo, the only place where these endangered primates live in the wild, show how female bonobos team up to outmaneuver their physically larger male counterparts.
Researchers have long been puzzled by the female-dominated social structure of bonobos, who along with chimpanzees, are among humans’ closest living relatives. This study, published in Communications Biology, suggests that the key lies in female alliances.
By forming coalitions, female bonobos successfully chase males from valuable food resources in the trees. These “girl groups” also play a crucial role in establishing social hierarchy, with females who participate more actively achieving higher ranks within the community. “It’s very clear that you don’t want to overstep as a male bonobo,” notes study author Martin Surbeck from Harvard University.
The combined strength of the female groups effectively counters the males’ physical advantage, a strategy rarely seen leading to female dominance in the animal kingdom. Spotted hyenas are another notable example of this phenomenon. Significantly, female bonobos were observed to collaborate even without close kinship ties, reinforcing the idea that collective action strengthens their social standing and offers protection against male aggression.
Biological anthropologist Laura Lewis of the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved in the study, emphasizes the importance of these findings, suggesting that coalitions may have played a crucial role in the development and maintenance of power dynamics in humans and our ancestors over millions of years.