Animal instinct: Alpha female meerkat is a brutal killer who eats babies

Cute-looking meerkats which usually seem harmless are quite vicious and deadly. Female meerkats can go to any extent to eliminate their future rival. They kill female relatives and even eat their offspring who pose a threat to their dominance. In a new research, scientists finally found out what keeps female meerkats at the top of their game.

Dominant female meerkats display a unique gene expression that keeps their immunity intact and hence makes them dangerous, as per a preprint study posted to the server bioRxiv on Dec 3.

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These genes were found to be similar to the immunity genes seen in wild male baboons, where physical competition is crucial in determining rank hierarchies and mating.

Dominant female meerkats are highly competitive

Meerkats live in family groups, known as mobs. One mob can have up to 50 individuals and is led by a female matriarch, who dominates up to 80 per cent of breeding to maintain her control. If a subordinate female attempts to breed, she is evicted from the social group and any of her offspring are killed. Therefore, there is an extreme reproduction skew in female meerkats that is unique to the species.

Scientists found that one alpha female meerkat (head of a mob) reared up to 72 offspring during her lifetime while lower-ranking females within the social group produced no offspring. Similar reproduction patterns were seen in male meerkats as well.

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"In meerkats, females compete for mating opportunities, and can either be very successful or never have offspring at all, which is a pattern that is unusual in mammal social groups." Jenny Tung, professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University and co-author of the study, told Live Science.

Study shows dominance in meerkats is related to certain hormones

A recent study was conducted on 129 wild meerkats, including 69 males and 60 females at the Kuruman River Reserve in South Africa. The team monitored their behaviour and agonistic interactions over three years to determine their dominance status.

The researchers also took regular blood samples of meerkats, which showed dominant males and females had higher levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress. Interestingly, dominant female meerkats had higher androgen levels (a hormone that contributes to growth and reproduction) than their same-sex subordinates.

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In the dominant female meerkats, scientists also found evidence of increased response to an inflammatory stimulus compared with males, suggesting their bodies are better primed to fight infections.

Scientists say the findings support a hypothesis that social status is dependent on the energy needed to achieve dominance.

(With inputs from agencies)