How do female bonobos dominate males?

BarcelonaFemale sisterhood versus male aggression. This survival strategy transcends the human race and is also adopted by females. bonobo, the primates closest to humans, along with chimpanzees, and who, like all other mammals, are smaller than their male counterparts. Based on this purely physical disadvantage, females apply the popular saying that unity is strength or ingenuity is more valuable than brawn to outperform their male counterparts, according to the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior (MPI-AB), published this Thursday in the journal Nature.

For three decades, researchers They examined demographic and behavioral data in six bonobo communities. wild animals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and have concluded that in 85% of observed coalitions, females collectively dominate males, forcing them to submit and establishing themselves as leaders of the group.

This female dominance among bonobos is evident, for example, in that they control sexual relations: when and with whom they mate is a decision made by the females, contrary to what occurs in other mammal species in which males assert this physical superiority to subdue their mates. Bonobos exercise this sexual freedom and are also capable of rejecting suitors. Likewise, they have also learned their limits and what no means no.

Along with sex, the females of the species also have absolute control over another of the basic needs for collective survival: food. They are the first to bite into the collected food and also have the final say in how it is shared. From observations, researchers describe how females eat peacefully on the ground, without threats, while males watch from high in the trees, waiting their turn. They are responsible for supervising and sharing a new kill, for example.

Mutual support

How have bonobos overcome the disadvantage of physical strength to achieve a matriarchal society, where all the most important matters are in their hands? Solidarity between females, that is, sisterhood, applying a concept popularized by the feminist movement that contradicts the legend that female competition and envy make true companionship impossible.

"To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that female solidarity can reverse the male-biased power structure typical of many mammalian societies," says Harvard evolutionary biology professor Martin Surbeck. "It's exciting to find that women can actively elevate their social status by supporting each other." During 30 years of observations, the group followed 1,786 conflicts between males and females. In the competition, the females won hands down, with 1,099 victories using what the researchers call feminine power. If force alone can't win, it's better to seek alliances, "friends who support you," describes Surbeck.

One of the peculiarities concluded from the long observation is that the females establish strong bonds despite not having grown up together. How and why these female communities form remains a mystery, but Barbara Fruth, of the MPI-AB, reports that when they act to protect themselves or their offspring, they scream so loudly "that you have to cover your ears." A race ensues and the aggressive male chases, which, on occasion, has ended in death at the hands of the females. "It's a fierce way of asserting power," adds Fruth, for whom it is another way of marking boundaries.