Baboon mums have another destiny-cheating tactic: they can unconsciously manipulate the sex of their offspring. Altmann discovered that at her Amboseli study site low-ranking females had more sons than daughters. This plays to their advantage. Female status passes down the maternal line and is fixed, so low-ranking daughters remain shackled to the disadvantage of their mother’s miserable status for life. Male baboons, on the other hand, fight one another to dominate their hierarchy, so their status is more fluid. Plus a son who manages to hitch his reproductive star to a more successful
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