A team of researchers at the University of Copenhagen conducted a landmark survey and found a very interesting phenomenon: biological specimens collected and displayed in museums around the world, whether ancient or modern mammals, are mostly males.
The researchers analyzed hundreds of wild cattle and brown bear fossils collected in the wild and in large museum collections, provided by museums in Europe and North America, and the final results showed that 74 percent of the bison and 64 percent of the bears were males.
In addition to evaluating prehistoric species, the team also studied modern specimens from the collections of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the Natural History Museum in London, and the Royal Museum of Ontario.
Of the 19 mammals represented, 17 are predominantly male, with pterodactyls (consisting of bats) and Phifleurs (including anteaters and sloths) being the only taxa with more females than males.
Why is the male-female ratio in specimens so out of balance?
Scientists believe that there are many reasons for this gender bias, mainly the following factors: male mammals are generally larger, group distribution, gender-specific geographical range, individual animal behavior, and human collection preferences.
Mammoths have unique dating hobbies and acts of death
To study mammoths and bison more specifically, the team drew on the 2017 Contemporary Biological Study.
The paper analyzed the remains of 95 mammoths and found that 69% of the characteristic specimens were male mammoths.
This trend is not caused by unequal sex ratios at birth, but by the behavior of male mammoths.
Mammoths, like bison, either travel alone, live in a herd of elephants led by males, or operate in small groups that are all males. Mammoths who are unable to build their own groups tend to move with what they consider to be herd leaders.
Male mammoths and bison often engage in dangerous activities with high mortality rates, and usually do stupid things, such as accidentally getting stuck in a tar pit.
Tar pits and similar dirty places of death, easy to preserve corpses, inadvertently preserved the remains of these animals for thousands of years until they are discovered.
Loves the brown bears that roam around
At the same time, male specimens dominate brown bear fossils, probably because they prefer to cross land and wander around the land than their female counterparts.
In other words, if you're a paleontologist digging up a 12,000-year-old rock, there's a good chance you'll find that the fossil is a wandering male rather than a home-dwelling female.
Human collecting habits are also one of the reasons for the imbalance in the gender ratio of museums.
Pell Gutmann was a hunter who donated specimens to larger males.
He believes that capturing males can show off their booty in front of others, that males tend to have strong horns and flamboyant manes, and that, unlike mammalian mothers, males are often not responsible for raising the next generation.
Therefore, the male is the main target of the hunter.
At last
Some people have questioned the scientific nature of this study, arguing that the uneven representation of museum specimens may lead to biased results.
To address the imbalances described in the study, it is recommended that museums continue to diversify their collections, adding specimens of different genders, ages, and geographical origins.