currentsinbiology: Most animals don’t have grandmas. But elephants do. And what Granny does is

currentsinbiology:

Most animals don’t have grandmas. But elephants do. And what Granny does is awesome.

Elephants often live in large families made up of babies, juveniles, and females. They’re often led by the oldest of these females, which often have a really important social role in their families.

Professor Phyllis Lee wanted to know more about how these families worked. And in her research, she found something surprising — having a grandma made a huge difference in whether a new baby survived.

“It was an unexpected finding for us,” said Lee. “We didn’t think we’d find that very positive relationship between having a grandmother present and how well the daughters were doing in terms of reproduction.”