Recent research, including a new study from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the University of Turku, challenges traditional assumptions of universal male dominance in mammals. Analysing three decades of data on wild mountain gorillas, which have long been considered to have strictly male-biased hierarchies, this study reveals that most females can overpower at least one adult male, securing wins in conflicts and priority access to resources. These findings emphasise the complexity of power dynamics between the sexes in great apes and indicate that human patriarchy is probably a cultural construct rather than a primate legacy.