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Bonobos Form All-Female Coalitions to Target Violent Males
When a male bonobo harasses a young female, he’d better look out. A coalition of protective older females might be headed his way.
Researchers observing wild bonobos over four years in the Democratic Republic of Congo found that whenever females formed coalitions, they would invariably attack males. This was typically in response to a male displaying aggressive behavior towards another female.
In their study, published in the journal Animal Behaviour, the researchers conclude that “coalitions in female bonobos might have evolved as a counterstrategy against male harassment.”
Alliances feature prominently in the social lives of primates. Often forming among female relatives, these partnerships can strengthen the females’ ability cope with competition from non-relatives.
Bonobos are unusual in that females typically form alliances with unrelated females. As lead author Nahoko Tokuyama of Kyoto University explains in a press release, "For bonobos, females leave their birth group during adolescence, so females in a group are generally non-relative to each other. Despite this, they frequently form coalitions.”
Females had a better chance of defeating offending males when they formed coalitions than when they confronted a male alone.
Researchers observing wild bonobos over four years in the Democratic Republic of Congo found that whenever females formed coalitions, they would invariably attack males. This was typically in response to a male displaying aggressive behavior towards another female.
In their study, published in the journal Animal Behaviour, the researchers conclude that “coalitions in female bonobos might have evolved as a counterstrategy against male harassment.”
Alliances feature prominently in the social lives of primates. Often forming among female relatives, these partnerships can strengthen the females’ ability cope with competition from non-relatives.
Bonobos are unusual in that females typically form alliances with unrelated females. As lead author Nahoko Tokuyama of Kyoto University explains in a press release, "For bonobos, females leave their birth group during adolescence, so females in a group are generally non-relative to each other. Despite this, they frequently form coalitions.”
Females had a better chance of defeating offending males when they formed coalitions than when they confronted a male alone.
http://thescienceexplorer.com/nature/bonobos-form-all-female-coalitions-target-violent-males
10 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
I wonder what happened to our Bonobo?
"Damn feminazis!"
