Brilliantly said, per your usual high standard! GRIN!

It really fascinates me how this works, but the head of the pride here is invariably female (much as it is in a pride of lions, for example). Grrr clearly fills that role at present, dear ol' Poppet ruled before her.

The guys, even if they are the oldest, just never care to fill that role. Hobbes is the senior at the moment and Chief the Tuxedo Manx in his day was senior in age to Poppet, but the males are perfectly happy to not be involved in it.

Hobbes does take the role of Headmaster, though, having patiently taught first (as kittens) the sisters Grrr and The Swede what their places in the pride were and how to behave, then in turn Caledonia and most recently Lucy. Again a very clearly undertaken role and one I certainly didn't expect existed.

Talking of Lucy the Micro-panther, she is now completely acclimated to her role and integrated into the pride. This one was a little different as she came here as a young adult having never lived with other cats as far as we know, yet Hobbes still befriended her first then gently steered her into her role.

The social complexity and the clarity never ceases to fascinate me.