Is female aggression underplayed? (leopard, dog, pet, wild)
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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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It seems that it's portrayed that only males/mainly males in the animal kingdom are portrayed as being aggressive, especially in nature documentaries which portray two males have duels for a mate or territory. This is just one type of aggression - competition for a mate, and in many species, this is found in females as well.
While the males of many species might express 'aggression' more, I don't think females are necessarily less aggressive. Female rats, for instance, may be even more territorial, and when it comes to competition for food there is no difference. The same goes wit hierarchies in dog societies.
It does seem, however, that matriarchal societies where males don't have to compete using fighting - e.g. Bonobos or African Wild Dogs - do seem a bit more peaceful within themselves. Hyenas are one example where the females are more aggressive than the males.
Taking only land mammals into consideration, the impression that males are larger, stronger, and more aggressive than females is correct. This holds true for herbivores as well as predators. In a few species sexual dimorphism is quite pronounced. In many, if not most predator species, females tend to be only two thirds the weight of males and far less strong or aggressive. An example of this can be seen in the African lion. Even though the lionesses do most of the hunting, the difference between them and the much larger stockier male is very apparent. The only two large mammal predators I can think of in which the females are larger, stronger, more aggressive and dominant, are first, the African spotted hyena, and second, a marine mammal that lives in the waters at the bottom of the earth, the fierce leopard seal of the Antarctic.
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