Science is finally beginning to realize the deadly nature of the Piranha of the Serengheti.
A new study finds meerkats are the most murderous mammals.
A new study of violent behavior in more than 1,000 mammal species found the meerkat is the mammal most likely to be murdered by one of its own kind.
The study, led by José María Gómez of the University of Granada in Spain and published Wednesday in the journal Nature, analyzed more than 4 million deaths among 1,024 mammal species and compared them with findings in 600 studies of violence among humans from ancient times until today.
The findings tell us two things:
- Some amount of violence between humans is attributable to our place on the evolutionary tree.
- Meerkats are surprisingly murderous.
How long will it take for them to admit that meerkats are the leading cause of violent death in Africa? Some think lions, or hippos, or even the tse-tse fly are the most deadly animals on the Dark Continent. But we know better.