Charting the neglected West: The social system of Guinea baboons. (20th January 2017)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Charting the neglected West: The social system of Guinea baboons. (20th January 2017)
- Main Title:
- Charting the neglected West: The social system of Guinea baboons
- Authors:
- Fischer, Julia
Kopp, Gisela H.
Dal Pesco, Federica
Goffe, Adeelia
Hammerschmidt, Kurt
Kalbitzer, Urs
Klapproth, Matthias
Maciej, Peter
Ndao, Ibrahima
Patzelt, Annika
Zinner, Dietmar - Abstract:
- Abstract: Objectives: Primate social systems are remarkably diverse, and thus play a central role in understanding social evolution, including the biological origin of human societies. Although baboons have been prominently featured in this context, historically little was known about the westernmost member of the genus, the Guinea baboon ( Papio papio ). Material and Methods: Here, we summarize the findings from the first years of observations at the field site CRP Simenti in the Niokolo Koba National Park in Senegal. Results: Guinea baboons reveal a nested multi‐level social organization, with reproductive units comprising one "primary" male, one to several females, young, and occasionally "secondary" males at the base of the society. Three to five units form "parties, " which team up with other parties to form a "gang." Different gangs have largely overlapping home ranges and agonistic interactions between different parties or gangs are rare. Some but not all strongly socially bonded males are highly related, and population genetic and behavioral evidence indicate female‐biased dispersal. Females play an important role in intersexual bond formation and maintenance, and female tenure length varies between a few weeks to several years. Discussion: While the social organization resembles that of hamadryas baboons ( P. hamadryas ), the social structure differs considerably, specifically in terms of low male aggressiveness and female freedom. Despite substantial differences inAbstract: Objectives: Primate social systems are remarkably diverse, and thus play a central role in understanding social evolution, including the biological origin of human societies. Although baboons have been prominently featured in this context, historically little was known about the westernmost member of the genus, the Guinea baboon ( Papio papio ). Material and Methods: Here, we summarize the findings from the first years of observations at the field site CRP Simenti in the Niokolo Koba National Park in Senegal. Results: Guinea baboons reveal a nested multi‐level social organization, with reproductive units comprising one "primary" male, one to several females, young, and occasionally "secondary" males at the base of the society. Three to five units form "parties, " which team up with other parties to form a "gang." Different gangs have largely overlapping home ranges and agonistic interactions between different parties or gangs are rare. Some but not all strongly socially bonded males are highly related, and population genetic and behavioral evidence indicate female‐biased dispersal. Females play an important role in intersexual bond formation and maintenance, and female tenure length varies between a few weeks to several years. Discussion: While the social organization resembles that of hamadryas baboons ( P. hamadryas ), the social structure differs considerably, specifically in terms of low male aggressiveness and female freedom. Despite substantial differences in social organization and social structure, the acoustic structure of Guinea baboon vocalizations does not differ substantially from that of other baboon taxa. With its multi‐level organization, stable bonds between males and females, as well as a high‐degree of male‐male cooperation and tolerance, Guinea baboons constitute an intriguing model for reconstructing human social evolution. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- American journal of physical anthropology. Volume 162(2017)Supplement 63
- Journal:
- American journal of physical anthropology
- Issue:
- Volume 162(2017)Supplement 63
- Issue Display:
- Volume 162, Issue 63 (2017)
- Year:
- 2017
- Volume:
- 162
- Issue:
- 63
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2017-0162-0063-0000
- Page Start:
- 15
- Page End:
- 31
- Publication Date:
- 2017-01-20
- Subjects:
- female dispersal -- Guinea baboons -- human evolution -- nested multi‐level society -- Papio papio -- primate evolution -- social system
Physical anthropology -- Periodicals
Anthropology -- Periodicals
Anthropologie physique -- Périodiques
599.9 - Journal URLs:
- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ ↗
- DOI:
- 10.1002/ajpa.23144 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0002-9483
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 0832.000000
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library STI - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 11550.xml