From Thelma Rowell, Ingleton, North Yorkshire, UK
Chelsea Whyte reports that in only seven species of mammal do females exhibit leadership (29 September, p 8).
Leadership is a difficult concept to apply to animals, and indeed different definitions seem to be applied in each of the seven species cited. I cannot offhand think of any species of large long-lived social mammal in which females don't exert leadership in at least one of the definitions used here.
From my own observation, I can say that sheep and goats follow senior females' decisions in foraging, as do African guenon monkeys, such as blue monkey females, which also defend territories. Males have other priorities, often spending time living in all-male bands with their own rules. Could the authors name seven mammal species in which males provide leadership?
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The editor writes:
• The authors found leadership in 76 species, seven of which had systematic female leadership. Of course, females of the remaining species may take the lead at specific times and in specific situations.
