Hello and welcome to the conversation, the program that brings together two extraordinary women from around the world and allows them to share their personal stories and experiences with each other and us.
I'm Dashiani Navanayagam.
Today I'm speaking to two women who have spent their careers studying mammals, trying to understand the complexities of how they navigate the world and what their social structures reveal.
Doctor Marta Mansa from Switzerland is a professor in animal behaviour at the University of Zurich, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies.
And Doctor Gloriana Shiveri from Costa Rica is a research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and professor at the University of Costa Rica.
Marta Gloriana, welcome to the conversation.
Hello.
Hello.
Hello.
Thank you.
Marta, lets start with you first, because youve been studying meerkats for almost 30 years now.
Can you tell us an interesting fact about them that we just may not know?
Well, you probably know they live in groups and we have the dominant pair that really is leading this social group and the dominant female in particular really has the control over the group.
But she doesnt use it all the time.
She really uses it when it probably profits her.
She doesnt have to waste any energy because the others do it right.
She doesnt take the lead.
So its a very efficient way of running the social group.
But in any case, she could take control.
Unless she is injured, she gets weak, then any of the other females is ready to take over dominance, to compete for dominance.