Crossword Genius

The females live in the outskirts of Memphis (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mares

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'the females' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both animals as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?

'live in the outskirts of memphis' is the wordplay.
'live' becomes 'are' ('they live' means 'they are').
'in the' is an insertion indicator.
'outskirts of' suggests removing the centre (only letters on the outskirts).
'memphis' with its centre removed is 'ms'.
'are' inserted inside 'ms' is 'MARES'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for mares that I've seen is " Female horses".)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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