Eye: Dr. Patricia Wright's Lemurs Lead Just Like Bonobos

Madagascar’s Lemur Lady Dr. Patricia Wright Fights Their Extinction Salon

It appears that female bonobos may not be the only primates who call the shots. Asked this question by the New York Times, Dr. Wright answers:

The matter that originally brought you to Madagascar — sex role divisions among primates: what has observing lemurs taught you?

That this old saw about that male dominance being the natural order of things ought to be more rigorously examined. Among lemurs, females lead. They go into the fruit tree first, and the males must stay out until the females decide they can come in. Interestingly, the female leaders don’t strut around a lot. They work out the relationships in the group peaceably.

That’s made me think it might be time for our species to do things more the lemur way.