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[[File:Mandrillus sphinx (alpha male).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A high-ranking male [[mandrill]] advertises his status with bright facial coloration.<ref name="LeighSetchell2008">{{cite journal |last1=Leigh |first1=Steven R. |last2=Setchell |first2=Joanna M. |last3=Charpentier |first3=Marie |last4=Knapp |first4=Leslie A. |last5=Wickings |first5=E. Jean |display-authors=3 |title=Canine tooth size and fitness in male mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=55 |issue=1 |year=2008 |pages=75–85 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.01.001 |pmid=18472142 |bibcode=2008JHumE..55...75L |url=https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1530435 }}</ref>]]
In the [[zoological]] field of [[ethology]], a '''dominance hierarchy''' (formerly and colloquially called a '''pecking order''') is a type of social [[hierarchy]] that arises when members of animal [[social animal|social groups]] interact, creating a ranking system. Different types of interactions can result in dominance depending on the species, including [[Ritualized aggression|ritualized displays of aggression]] or direct physical violence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tibbetts |first1=Elizabeth A. |last2=Pardo-Sanchez |first2=Juanita |last3=Weise |first3=Chloe |date=2022-02-28 |title=The establishment and maintenance of dominance hierarchies |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=377 |issue=1845 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2020.0450 |issn=0962-8436 |pmc=8743888 |pmid=35000449}}</ref>
In social living groups, members are likely to compete for access to limited resources and [[mating]] opportunities. Rather than fighting each time they meet, individuals of the same sex establish a relative rank, with higher-ranking individuals often gaining more access to resources and mates. Based on repetitive interactions, a social order is created that is subject to change each time a dominant animal is challenged by a subordinate one. In eusocial animals, whether mammals or insects, aggressive interactions often lead to the suppression of reproduction in non-dominant individuals. Such interactions may be ritualised, and an individual's resulting rank in the dominance hierarchy may be advertised to other individuals by visual or chemical cues. Suppression operates in some species on the reproductive hormones of non-dominant individuals. Dominance hierarchies exist in many bird species, first observed in the domestic chicken, where the hierarchy is maintained by pecking with the beak.
There is a spectrum of social organisations in different species, from a full despotic hierarchy to a relatively egalitarian system in species with little intraspecific competition. Dominance varies, too, depending on the context or resource, and on group size.
== Definitions ==
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