US EditionAlpha Males Are Rare Among Our Fellow Primates, Scientists Say
MONTPELLIER, FRANCE; LEIPZIG, GERMANY; GÖTTINGEN, GERMANY, JUL 7 – Analysis of 253 populations across 121 primate species shows females win 40-80% of intersexual conflicts, revealing diverse dominance patterns beyond male physical strength.
- A French-German research team published a study in PNAS on July 13, 2025, analyzing dominance between male and female primates across 253 populations from 121 species.
- Researchers evaluated five different explanations for variations in power imbalances between males and females, disputing the conventional belief that males are always dominant over females.
- The study found that intersexual conflicts are common, more than half of group interactions involve males and females, and clear dominance by either sex is rare.
- Lead author Dieter Lukas noted that conflicts frequently occur between males and females in many animal species, while Elise Huchard highlighted that females tend to achieve influence through reproductive tactics rather than relying on physical aggression.
- The results indicate that dominance between sexes differs depending on social and environmental factors, challenging the conventional belief that male dominance and human gender hierarchies are inherent traits inherited from primate ancestors.
67 Articles
67 Articles
For a long time it was believed that in nature males socially dominated females in most primates. Recent studies have questioned this perspective, paving the way for a more thorough exploration of power relations between males and females. In this study, experts quantified and examined the variation in intersexual dominance relationships in 121 primates species. They demonstrated that societies where males gain almost all aggressive encounters a…
Although the alpha male has become such a viable meme among humans that the idea tends to be attributed to other species, a new study shows that among most primates, power relations between the sexes are more balanced. A clear male dominance is the exception rather than the rule.
The alpha male who subjects the group, especially the females who compose it, has more myth than reality. They do not always command, not even often. For a long time it has been assumed that the few primates species in which the domain is female, such as ringed-tail lemurs or bonobos, represented an exception that required a special explanation.It is not so.In most primates species, no sex is clearly imposed on the other, according to a study ca…
Here a data, in principle, counterintuitive: the power relations between males and females in nature are not, at all, clear. For a long time they were thought to dominate socially over them, as a general rule, among primates. Because they are larger, stronger, more necessary for the survival of the group. But this vision is increasingly questioned by the scientific community. And with arguments. A new study has evidenced that in most populations…
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