QUEENS OF THE JUNGLE

A biologist presents a gallery of her favorite females, “the wonder women of the animal kingdom.”

“It’s all about girl power,” York writes—referring to elephant families, but really applying the notion to dozens of animals as she highlights a wide array of female-led group dynamics, reproductive practices, and parental behaviors. For many creatures that hang out in family or social groups, from wild horses, ring-tailed lemurs, and spotted hyenas to orcas, bonobos, and honeybees, females are in charge. Also, for the much tinier male orchid mantis and black widow spider, there’s often “no second date,” as the author puts it. She ventures into more intriguing territory by introducing multiple species that change genders as they go. She also describes female Amazon mollies and mole salamanders (which clone themselves, but only in the presence of sperm they don’t actually use) as well as water fleas, marbled crayfish, and New Mexico whiptail lizards, which produce offspring without having to bother with males at all. If that’s not enough to leave readers agog, she offers several examples of extreme maternal sacrifice such as that of the desert spider, which liquifies her own insides to feed her young. Humans don’t make the cut, but Clinthorne-Wong slips occasional mildly anthropomorphic expressions or nurturing postures into her vibrantly hued close-up portraits of wild mothers and children.

Revelatory reading for audiences of every gender.