Female antelopes take the lead in courtship

Among topi antelopes, it’s the males that need convincing.

Topis, medium-sized antelopes in Africa, reverse the standard roles in courtship, says Jakob Bro-Jørgensen of the Zoological Society of London. “When biologists talk about the battle of the sexes, normally it’s between persistent males and resistant females,” he says. Not so among topis, even though they live otherwise standard mammal lives with maternal care.