Overview

• Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the University of Turku analyzed 25 years of data from four mountain gorilla groups in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
• The analysis shows that 88% of female gorillas outrank at least one adult male in groups with multiple males, particularly younger or older non-alpha males.
• Despite weighing roughly half as much as males, females won over a quarter of their conflicts with non-alpha males and often secured priority access to food resources.
• Non-alpha males frequently restrain aggression toward high-ranking females to avoid retaliation from the alpha male, a dynamic that bolsters female success in disputes.
• These findings build on earlier bonobo and cross-species studies to reveal flexible primate hierarchies and question the assumption of universal male dominance.