Do you ever feel like you’re turning into your parents?
For these spotted hyenas, it’s a definite possibility.
Hyenas have a matriarchal society, meaning the moms set the social structure.
They live in clans, varying in size from just a few to more than a hundred hyenas,
where social rank impacts everything from reproductive success to lifespan.
It’s no surprise that cubs inherit from their mothers in the form of genetic information.
But they inherit something else, too: their social connections.
Scientists drew on 27 years of direct observations to pin down
how hyena social networks transition between generations.
They discovered that mothers pass on their social “status” to their cubs through their alliances
with other hyenas, cementing relationships that remain in place for the next four to six years.
But this pattern doesn’t hold up for low-ranking mothers — and for good reason.
Cubs of high-ranked mothers tend to live longer
when they keep their mom’s alliances, creating a “silver spoon effect” for the hyena elites.
But, like humans, not every hyena can rely on a boost from family legacy.
Cubs of low-ranked mothers suffer from following in their parents’ footsteps.
They live shorter lives when they rely on their mother’s connections alone.
However, lower-ranked cubs can compensate for their
mother’s lower status by forging new alliances.
With years of hyena data in the bank, scientists are already looking for new research directions,
like how hyena fathers impact social rank,
and how these relationships compare with other social species, like primates.
And you don’t have to go far to find parallels in humans: from
college legacy admissions to job opportunities, parental connections can be pretty important.
So if you’re a hyena with friends in high places, it’s best to keep them. But if your
parents rank at the bottom of the clan, you’ll have to make new connections on your own.