+918679601119 / +918679401119
info@pcsa.in

Spotted Hyena: Social Inheritance of Rank [Prelims Bits]

15 Sep 2026

Tags: Prelims   Current events of national and international importance

Source: The Hindu

  • A long-term study found that female spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) inherit their mother’s social rank, giving privileged lineages greater access to resources and reproductive opportunities.
  • Study covered 2,743 wild spotted hyenas, 8 clans, 8 generations and 29 years of data in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.
  • Spotted hyenas have a matrilineal social system.
  • Female dominance over males is associated more with social alliances and networks than physical strength.
  • The youngest female cub of an alpha female inherits her mother’s high social status.
  • High-ranking females gain better access to:
    • Food and nutrition
    • Social allies
    • Breeding opportunities
    • Survival advantages
  • These advantages can accumulate across generations, producing reproductive inequality among female lineages.
  • In the Lemala clan, almost all living members descended from a single founding female lineage.
  • Researchers used DNA from mucus associated with faecal samples for paternity analysis.
  • Challenges the traditional Darwin-Bateman paradigm, which generally predicts greater reproductive competition among males.
  • Demonstrates that socially inherited traits such as rank, relationships and resource access can influence fitness, alongside genetic inheritance.
  • Spotted hyena is notable for its unusual social and reproductive biology: females are socially dominant, and female genital anatomy makes birth particularly challenging, with first-time mothers facing high cub mortality.

Prelims Question

Q1. Consider the following statements regarding the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta):

  1. Spotted hyenas exhibit a matrilineal social system in which social rank can be transmitted across generations through maternal lineages.
  2. Female dominance in spotted hyena clans is primarily explained by greater physical strength of females compared with males.
  3. Social alliances and access to resources can influence the reproductive success and survival of individual females.
  4. Socially inherited characteristics such as rank can influence biological fitness even in the absence of direct genetic inheritance of that characteristic.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer: (b) 1, 3 and 4 only

Explanation:

  • Statement 1 is correct: Female spotted hyenas live in matrilineal social systems, with social status transmitted through maternal lineages.
  • Statement 2 is incorrect: Female dominance is associated substantially with social alliances and networks, rather than simply superior physical strength.
  • Statement 3 is correct: Higher-ranking females can obtain better nutrition, allies and breeding opportunities, affecting survival and reproduction.
  • Statement 4 is correct: The study illustrates how social inheritance can affect fitness, even though social rank itself is not simply a genetically inherited trait.

Archive

More Links

Prelims Preparation Strategy UPSC Prelims Syllabus CSAT Prelims Strategy Mains Preparation Strategy UPSC Mains Syllabus Optional Subject Preparation Strategy Potential of Optional Subject List of Optional Subject UPSC Previous Year Papers Preparation Strategy for Mains