March is women’s history month. To celebrate women’s empowerment, I wanted to share a few examples of the animal groups in which females have always ruled the roost!
When a society, family, colony or group is ruled by the females, we refer to this as a matriarchal society, or a matriarchy. In nature this is not an unusual phenomenon, here are some of the most well known examples of matriarchal societies:
Elephants.
The first Queen on my list is non other than everybody’s favourite gentle giant, the Elephant.
In both the African and Asian Elephant herds, it’s usually the largest and oldest female that takes on the role of matriarch.
Herds are made up of related females and their calves, as male elephants leave to live independently once they reach puberty.
Being the oldest elephant, the matriarch will have lots of experience and knowledge about the world around her. Often deciding where the herd goes, what they eat, and when they eat. But a member of the herd doesn’t always have to remain with their leader. Interestingly, elephants can separate into smaller groups, whilst still maintaining their close bond and coordination with the greater herd by communicating via vocalisations. They can then rejoin the herd at any time they please.
It usually pays off to stay with the matriarch however, as her wise decisions will undoubtedly be beneficial in the herds survival. Plus younger members can learn valuable information from her.
When they come together, these majestic mother’s, aunts, cousin’s and grandmothers can form groups of up to 100 individuals.
Orcas.
The next fierce female lives amongst the Orca’s. Better known as Killer Whales, these marine mammals form matrilineal groups that are led by older females.
They can live up to 100 years, and communicate with distinctive calls and whistles.
The older matriarch of the pod can teach the younger individuals specific behaviours – such as how to hunt. When animals learn behaviours from one another, it can be said that they’ve evolved a culture. And Killer Whale cultures have been found to differ greatly between their populations. Meaning things like what they eat, where they go, what they do for fun and even their choice of mates can differ from one population to another. It has also been found that Orca’s have different accents and dialects, depending on where they live!
Like humans, Orca’s undergo menopause. After about 30 years, the females in the pod can no longer reproduce. Yet they live to 100.
One reason for this could be so that the older and more knowledgeable female can pass on knowledge to her younger kin, and can help with the rearing of her grandchildren. Hence, taking the strain away from their mother, so that she can reproduce again. This would increase the fitness of the grandmother overall, as she would have increasing numbers of kin.
For Orca’s, their grandmothers are incredibly valuable assets to the pod, so there’s no wonder they’re leading the way.
Lemurs.
The lemur world is a world that many men would shudder at the thought of – a world that is ruled by women.
In Madagascar, many lemur species are female led. Forming a social group called a Conspiracy. This time, it’s not just one older matriarch that rules the roost, but all of the females in the group get to call the shots. Even infant females hold a higher social ranking than any male.
Bonobos.
Next up, we have a primate matriarchy. The bonobos share 99% of their DNA with humans. As do chimps. Making them one of our closest living relatives. In their society, it’s the older female Bonobos that determine when and where the group go.
Chimps and Bonobos split into two different species relatively recently, 2 million years ago. Since then they have evolved drastically different social behaviours.
In chimp societies, males are always dominant to females, and often exhibit violent and aggressive behaviour to members of their own and neighbouring groups. Sometimes even killing other chimps. Whereas Bonobos, in comparison lead a very peaceful life, where the female is always dominant, and serious violence is very rarely seen.
Lower ranks of the Bonobos groups are equal amongst genders, but the leader is always the old female.
The old female is also very respected amongst her group. For example when a prey item is bought into the group – she will calmly place her arm over it, taking possession, and the other members of the group will not squabble. Instead, they sit with their palms outstretched waiting for their share of the food. Showing just how much respect they have for their leader.
Her group is made up of non related females too – which differentiates her from some of the other matriarchs listed in this article.
Lions.
Lions are unlike other big cats in the fact that they form social groups called Prides. Other big cats spend most of their adult lives in solidarity. African and Asian lions form prides of various sizes. In Africa, a pride may consist of a few males, and many related females. Whereas in Asia, prides are separated into males and females.
The females of the pride, however, always lead the way. They act as communal parents too, rearing each others young together.
The females lead the hunt for prey. It is thought that the advantage of hunting in a pride rather than alone, when faced with large prey items, has contributed to the evolution of these big cats forming social groups.
We know them as the kings of the jungle, but perhaps we should be referring to Lions as queens of the Savannah!
It’s true, matriarchy is rare in the animal kingdom. But it is not nonexistent. Other examples of matriarchal societies include those of honeybees, meerkats and naked mole rats. All can say is, god save these queens.