Bonobos, distinct from chimpanzees and primarily found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been recognized as a separate species for nearly a century.

Research led by Martin Surbeck and colleagues monitored six bonobo communities in the region for nearly 30 years to investigate their social structures.

Surbeck, a behavioral ecologist at Harvard University, dedicated thousands of hours to studying these endangered apes in their natural habitat.

The research team assessed female dominance by tracking conflict outcomes between genders and measuring the percentage of males outranked by females.

While females won 61% of conflicts and outranked 70% of males on average, this dominance varies among different bonobo populations.

In the Eyengo community, females never backed down from males, while in the Kokolopori group, they dominated 98.4% of conflicts in 2020; however, the Ekalakala community showed females dominating only 18.2% of the time in 2016.

A new study reveals that female bonobos in Congo form groups to fend off male aggression, emphasizing their ability to assert power through cooperation.

Males who fail to respond effectively to these challenges lose social rank, while successful females gain better access to resources and mates for their offspring.

In 85% of observed coalitions, female bonobos successfully targeted males, establishing dominance in their social hierarchy.

The study reinforces the idea that male dominance is not an inevitable evolutionary outcome, suggesting flexibility and innovation in social behaviors among apes and humans.

Biological anthropologist Laura Lewis from the University of California, Berkeley, commented that the findings suggest humans and their ancestors may have similarly relied on coalitions for power throughout history.

Researchers were surprised to find that adult female coalitions formed among unrelated immigrants, indicating deep bonds despite lacking prior relationships.