From bees to dolphins to elephants, many wild animals live in cooperative groups ruled by a single leader. And, as is the case in human societies, these rulers take different pathways to power.

Depending on their size and personalities, chimpanzees either use brute force or build coalitions to get ahead. The top dogs of some species, such as spotted hyenas, are determined by sex or by lineage, much as rulers ascend in a monarchy. Stickleback fish simply follow the best-looking of the bunch.

And though humans sometimes see leaders’ advanced age as a weakness—at least for U.S. presidents—some animal species embrace their elders, says Jennifer Smith, a behavioral ecologist at Mills College in California.

“Often mammals actively choose to follow an