Alpha Females
The alpha female is the highest-ranking female in the community who gets preferred access to food and resources because of her status. Female chimpanzee dominance may not be as intensive as males but females have a hierarchy. Unlike males, females can inherit their status from their mothers or move between communities and rise up the pecking order. In the Kasakela community, Flo was a high-ranking female. She had access to food and good sleeping sites. Her eldest daughter Fifi also became a high-ranked female. Fifi inherited her status from birth because her mother was a high-ranking female. Fifi became the alpha female in the community and her daughter Fanni also became a high-ranking female. Female dominance in chimpanzees can change but is usually stable. Gremlin's mother Melissa was a high-ranking female but lower in rank than Flo and later Fifi. Gremlin fell to the bottom of the pecking order after Melissa died.
Read more about this topic: Kasakela Chimpanzee Community
Famous quotes containing the words alpha and/or females:
“Imagination is a valuable asset in business and she has a sister, Understanding, who also serves. Together they make a splendid team and business problems dissolve and the impossible is accomplished by their ministrations.... Imagination concerning the world’s wants and the individual’s needs should be the Alpha and Omega of self-education.”
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