In nature, females are stronger than males. What are the benefits?

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Among mammals, in most animals, males are stronger than females, such as lions, tigers and other cats, wolves, foxes and other canids, and all bears. However, "men are weaker than women" is not the "main theme" in nature, because not only among mammals, females are stronger than males, but beyond mammals, this phenomenon is even more common.

Let’s briefly take a look at several animals in which females are stronger than males, and then analyze the benefits of “females are stronger than males”.

Let’s first look at mammals. Although most mammals have males larger than females, there are always exceptions. Among mammals, the most representative example of females being larger than males is the spotted hyena.

In nature, females are stronger than males. What are the benefits?

Spotted hyenas are also known as "African hyenas" "Brother", on the African savannah, they successfully suppressed leopards by living in groups and digging their anuses, becoming the second most carnivore after lions. As social animals, the "leader" of the spotted hyena group is a female, so their leader is also called the "hyena queen."

The average weight of adult female spotted hyenas is about 65 kg, while the average weight of males is only about 40 kg. Females weigh at least 30% more than males, precisely because female spotted hyenas are larger. , so in the battle for group leadership, males have no say. And unlike other mammals, female spotted hyenas secrete too much male hormone during development, so their reproductive organs are over-developed and exposed outside the body. , looks like a male.

Secondly, let’s take a look at arthropods. In most arthropods, females are larger than males, especially insects. For example, the praying mantis is a typical representative. Mantises are one of the most ferocious insects. Their pair of sickle-shaped forelimbs are simply the "scythes of death" for insects that are close to or smaller than their size. In addition to strong hunting ability, female praying mantises also have another behavior during the breeding period, which is to eat their "husbands". Many male praying mantises are eaten by females during the breeding period. The reason why female praying mantises eat males is that we are talking about As mentioned in the previous article, the female praying mantis is hungry, and the reason why the female praying mantis is able to succeed is that she has a body that is at least twice that of the male.
Finally let’s look at fish. mostIn many fish species, females are larger than males. Let's take the most obvious example - the angler. Anglers are a kind of deep-sea fish. Their biggest feature is that they have a small lantern-like light-emitting organ on the top of their heads. This organ actually evolved from their dorsal fin, and being able to emit light is actually not the ability of the angler itself. Instead, a large number of luminescent bacteria gather at the end of the dorsal fin. It has a mutually beneficial relationship with these luminescent bacteria. The angler provides them with a habitat, and the luminous bacteria attract prey to the angler living in the dark.
The angler is one of the most adorable fish in the world, and is even the cutest in nature. In front of an adult female angler, the male is like her egg. Just like the newly hatched fish, the size difference between the two is at least hundreds of times. It is precisely because of such a large size difference that the male angler needs to parasitize the female. As it matures, its body will gradually be absorbed by the female. are absorbed, and finally only one sperm vesicle is left. After the sperm vesicle is also absorbed, the male disappears. Therefore, although it is normal for males to be larger than females among vertebrates, in terms of biomass, animals with larger females than males have greater biomass.

In nature, what are the benefits of females being stronger than males?

What are the benefits of females being stronger than males? For animals in nature, whether females are stronger than males or vice versa, it is the most suitable evolutionary form for them. However, comparatively speaking, it is more advantageous for females to be stronger than males. Below we will discuss the following four aspects: Let’s talk about the advantages of females being stronger than males from three aspects: First: the probability of survival is improved. For the same animal, stronger females mean that they have a higher chance of survival than males, and the chance of survival mainly reflects the ability to forage and avoid natural enemies. Let’s take hyenas as an example. Stronger female spotted hyenas They are stronger than males in hunting, and when attacking prey at the same time, females are less likely to be injured than males. Secondly, when facing lions, lone female spotted hyenas tend to escape more easily, while males are more likely to be killed by male lions.
Second: The survival rate of offspring is higher. In nature, there are many animals that part ways after reproduction, such as praying mantises and other insects. They only complete mating, and the remaining work such as egg laying and hatching is left to the female. Under this premise, the female The stronger the mantis, the better it can protect its eggs. Therefore, stronger female animals are usually better able to protect and take care of their young than male animals, so the reproductive success rate is higher and the survival rate of their offspring is higher.The higher it is.
Third: Better social skills. In nature, male animals are often more violent than females. They are also very less receptive to their own kind and are highly aggressive. This is actually not conducive to the development and growth of the entire population of a species, while female animals are gentler in comparison. Some, this will help them establish certain social relationships with their own kind, thereby avoiding unnecessary fights within the group. Let's take a simple example. When female animals become stronger, they have the absolute right to choose. They will choose stronger individuals for reproduction. This can even skip the losses caused by male animal fights. Moreover, females are stronger, they They will mate with multiple males and have a higher chance of getting pregnant.
Summary: The differences between male and female individuals of the same animal are caused by genetic mutations, and its preservation must have gone through natural selection. Survival of the fittest means that no matter how different the males and females of any animal are, it is beneficial to their survival and reproduction. Although among mammals, males are larger than females is the main theme, but looking at the entire nature, in fact, females It is normal to be larger than a male, which proves that the latter is more beneficial to animals in comparison.

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