2021/12/01 by Eve Davidian, Oliver P. Höner · 1 citation
Psychology · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #Clan #Hyena #Crocuta crocuta #Throne #Demography #Nephew and niece #Psychology #Genealogy #History #Sociology #Zoology #Biology #Politics #Political science #Law #Anthropology #Population
paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/fee.2441
openalex publication_date 2021/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The society of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) is often depicted as a textbook example of uncontested female supremacy. Male hyenas are portrayed as pushovers that must show deference to hyper-aggressive females if they wish to mate or feed. Yet often, the reality is more complex – and far more interesting! Female hyenas do not dominate males unconditionally. In fact, males too can hold the alpha position. This is what happened to Majani (left) with the support from female relatives, when his mother, queen of the Lemala clan in Ngorongoro Crater, died. Dominance relationships in spotted hyenas are not a matter of gender, body size, or aggressiveness. Rather, they are determined by the number of social allies one can rely on. Hyena mothers are the fiercest and most reliable allies; they support their young – daughters and sons – against members of lower-ranking matrilines and thereby ensure they hold the social rank right below their own. Sons of alpha females can thus inherit the throne, such as what happened with Majani. When his mother died, Majani could count on the support from his older sister Vimba (third from left) and his two nieces to make sure others respected his alpha status. Cases like Majani’s are not rare but they often go unnoticed because kings rarely stay in power for long. Like other males, kings usually disperse after reaching sexual maturity, leaving the throne to a sister. Interestingly, males who remain in their birth clan do reproduce very successfully. To what degree these philopatric males impact the clan’s social organization and genetic structure has yet to be unraveled.