What is Female Dominance?
Male dominance is generally more common in mammals because of the sexual dimorphism that occurs. Males, being larger than females, give them an advantage in obtaining resources (Case 2009). However, lemurs lack sexual dimorphism; both males and females are the same relative size (Weckerly 1998). This means that female dominance is a social construct that has resulted for other reasons than conflict. This lack of dimorphism is particularly intriguing for polygynous species with high operational sex ratios, which give them the potential for intense mating competition (Emlen & Oring 1977). In such systems, mate guarding is advantageous to males and will enhance the selective pressure on male size (Clutton-Brock et al. 1977). Among spotted hyenas, the role of sexual dimorphism is reversed; with females being larger than males. This size difference is thought to be a result of higher androgen levels present in females (East et al., 2003). There are two specific types of female dominance, ag
