this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2024
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Science Memes

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[โ€“] 58008@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (4 children)

I've heard this debunk a lot over the years, and I don't disbelieve it, but is it not the case that one or two animals (wolves or otherwise) in a group will be the "bosses" or something close to being dominant over the others? Is all of that internal power struggling we see in groups/families of animals not really what it seems? Or is the "alpha" stuff different from that? Or does it only apply to wolves, and "alphas" do exist in other animal species?

Yours, confused and uneducated,

u/58008

[โ€“] fossilesque@mander.xyz 11 points 9 months ago

The behaviour initially exhibited and observed were of wolves in captivity (think prison). Once they were observed in the wild, the theory fell apart. Caged animals act differently, just like people.

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