Chapter Summary
The harem-based social organization of hamadryas baboons has been attributed primarily to the predisposition of hamadryas males to herd females into one-male units (OMUs). Hamadryas females, by contrast, are thought to be behaviorally flexible. In this chapter, we describe and analyze female behavior in a hybrid group located in the Awash hybrid zone of Ethiopia. All individuals in the group are hamadryas-olive hybrids, but individual phenotypes range from mostly hamadryas to mostly olive. We use data across a 40-month period to assess whether or not females of different ancestry exhibit different behavioral strategies within the same mixed group. We found that females follow three distinct behavioral strategies: strict OMU, loose OMU, and non- OMU. Behaviors that suggested a hamadryas-like social organization (e.g., strong intersexual bonds) were associated with the strict-OMU females, and behaviors that suggested an olive-like social organization (e.g., strong intrasexual bonds) were associated with the non-OMU females. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between morphological phenotype and behavior: Females that had more hamadryas-like morphological phenotypes exhibited behaviors characteristic of hamadryas baboons, while females with more olive-like morphological phenotypes exhibited behaviors like that of typical olive baboons. Loose-OMU females ranged across the spectrum both morphologically and behaviorally. Finally, strict-OMU females enjoyed higher reproductive success during this study than females in other kinds of groups. In sum, females under identical ecological pressures still exhibit particular behavioral strategies consistent with their morphological phenotype, suggesting that some aspects of female grouping behavior have a genetic basis.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abegglen, J. J., 1984, On Socialization in Hamadryas Baboons: A Field Study, Associated University Press, London.
Aldrich-Blake, F. P. G., Dunn, T. K., Dunbar, R. I. M., and Headley, P. M., 1971, Observations on baboons, Papio anubis, in an arid region in Ethiopia, Folia Primatol. 15:1–35.
Altmann, J., 1974, Observational study of behavior: Sampling methods, Behaviour 49:229–267.
Altmann, J. A., 1980, Baboon Mothers and Infants, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Anderson, C. M., 1983, Levels of social organization and male-female bonding in the genus Papio, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 60:15–22.
Barton, R. A., Whiten, A., Strum, S. C., Byrne, R. W., and Simpson, A. J., 1992, Habitat use and resource availability in baboons, Anim. Behav. 43:831–844.
Barton, R. A., Byrne, R. W., and Whiten, A., 1996, Ecology, feeding competition and social structure in baboons, Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 38:321–329.
Beehner, J., 2003, Female behavior and reproductive success in a hybrid baboon group (Papio hamadryas hamadryas × Papio hamadryas anubis). Ph.D. Dissertation, Washington University, St. Louis, MO.
Bergman, T. J., 2000, Mating behavior and reproductive success of hybrid male baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas × Papio hamadryas anubis). Ph.D. Dissertation, Washington University, St. Louis, MO.
Bergman, T. J. and Beehner, J. C., 2003, Hybrid zones and sexual selection: Insights from the Awash baboon hybrid zone (Papio hamadryas anubis × P. h. hamadryas), in: Sexual Selection and Reproductive Competition in Primates: New Insights and Directions, C. B. Jones, ed., American Society of Primatologists, Norman, OK, pp. 503–537.
Bergman, T. J. and Beehner, J. C., 2004, Social system of a hybrid baboon group (Papio anubis × P. hamadryas), Int. J. Primatol. 25:1313–1330.
Beyene, S., 1993, Group-fusion and hybridization between anubis and hamadryas baboons at Gola, Ethiopia. SINET: Ethiop. J. Sci. 16:61–70.
Biquand, S., Biquand-Guyot, V., Boug, A., and Gautier, J. P., 1992, Group composition in wild and commensal hamadryas baboons: A comparative study in Saudi Arabia, Int. J. Primatol. 13:533–543.
Brett, F., Turner, T., Jolly, C. J., and Cauble, R., 1982, Trapping baboons and vervet monkeys from wild, free-ranging populations, J. Wildl. Manage. 46:164–174.
Byrne, R. W., Whiten, A., and Henzi, S. P., 1989, Social relationships of mountain baboons: Leadership and affiliation in a non-female bonded monkey, Am. J. Primatol. 18:191–207.
Byrne, R. W., Whiten, A., Henzi, S. P., and McCulloch, F. M., 1993, Nutritional constraints on mountain baboons (Papio ursinus): Implications for baboon socioecology, Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 33:233–246.
Caljan, V. G., Meishvili, N. V., and Vancatova, M. A., 1987, Sexual behaviour of hamadryas baboons. Anthropologie 25:183–187.
Chalyan, V. G., Meishvili, V., and Dathe, R., 1991, Dominance rank and reproduction in female hamadryas baboons. Primate Rep. 29:35–40.
Coelho, A., Turner, S., and Bramblett, C., 1983, Allogrooming and social status: An assessment of the contributions of female behavior to the social organization of hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas). Primates 24:184–197.
Colmenares, F., Lozano, M. G., and Torres, P., 1994, Harem social structure in a multiharem colony of baboons (Papio spp.): A test of the hypothesis of the “starshaped” sociogram, in: Current Primatology, Vol. II: Social Development, Learning & Behavior, J. J. Roeder, ed., Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, pp. 93–101.
Cowlishaw, G., 1997, Trade-offs between foraging and predation risk determine habitat use in a desert baboon population, Anim. Behav. 53:667–686.
Dunbar, R. I. M., 1988, Primate Social Systems, Cornell University Press, New York.
Hamilton, W. J. and Bulger, J. B., 1992, Facultative expression of behavioral differences between one-male and multimale savanna baboon groups, Am. J. Primatol. 28:61–71.
Hausfater, G., Altmann, J., and Altmann, S. A., 1982, Long-term consistency of dominance relations among female baboons (Papio cynocephalus), Science 217:752–755.
Henzi, P. and Barrett, L., 2003, Evolutionary ecology, sexual conflict, and behavioral differentiation among baboon populations, Evol. Anthropol. 12:217–230.
Henzi, S. P., Dyson, M. L., and Deenik, A., 1990, The relationship between group size and altitude in mountain baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus), Int. J. Primatol. 11:319–325.
Jolly, C. J., 1963, A suggested case of evolution by sexual selection in primates, Man 63:177–178.
Kummer, H., 1968a, Social Organization of Hamadryas Baboons: A Field Study, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Kummer, H., 1968b, Two variations in the social organization of baboons, in: Primates: Studies in Adaptation and Variability, P. C. Jay, ed., Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York, pp. 293–312.
Kummer, H., 1971, Primate Societies: Group Techniques of Ecological Adaptation, Harlan Davidson, Arlington Heights, IL.
Kummer, H., 1984, From laboratory to desert and back: A social system of hamadryas baboons, Anim. Behav. 32:965–971.
Kummer, H. and Kurt, F., 1963, Social units of a free-living population of hamadryas baboons, Folia Primatol. 1:4–19.
Kummer, H. and Kurt, F., 1965, A comparison of social behavior in captive and wild hamadryas baboons, in: The Baboon in Medical Research, H. Vagtborg, ed., University of Texas Press, Austin, pp. 65–80.
Kummer, H., Banaja, A. A., Abo-Khatwa, A. N., and Ghandour, A. M., 1985, Differences in the social behavior between Ethiopian and Arabian hamadryas baboons, Folia Primatol. 45:1–8.
Kummer, H., Götz, W., and Angst, W., 1970, Cross-species modifications of social behavior in baboons, in: Old World Monkeys: Evolution, Systematics, and Behavior, J. R. Napier, and P. H. Napier, eds., Academic Press, New York, pp. 351–363.
Leinfelder, I., de Vreis, H., Deleu, R., and Nelissen, M., 2001, Rank and grooming reciprocity among females in a mixed-sex group of captive hamadryas baboons, Am. J. Primatol. 55:25–42.
Melnick, D. J. and Pearl, M. C., 1987, Cercopithecines in multimale groups: Genetic diversity and population structure, in: Primate Societies, B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R. W. Wrangham, and T. T. Struhsaker, eds., University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 121–134.
Nagel, U., 1973, A comparison of anubis baboons, hamadryas baboons and their hybrids at a species border in Ethiopia, Folia Primatol. 19:104–165.
Nystrom, P., 1992, Mating success of hamadryas, anubis and hybrid male baboons in a “mixed” social group in the Awash National Park, Ethiopia. Ph.D. Dissertation, Washington University, St. Louis, MO.
Pfeiffer, G., Kaumanns, W., and Schwibbe, M. H., 1985, A female “defeated leader” in hamadryas baboons: A case study, Primate Rep. 12:18–26.
Phillips-Conroy, J. E. and Jolly, C. J., 1986, Changes in the structure of the baboon hybrid zone in the Awash National Park, Ethiopia, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 71:337–350.
Phillips-Conroy, J. E., Jolly, C. J., and Brett, F. L., 1991, Characteristics of hamadryas-like male baboons living in anubis baboon troops in the Awash hybrid zone, Ethiopia, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 86:353–368.
Seyfarth, R. M., 1976, Social relationships among adult female baboons, Anim. Behav. 24:917–938.
Seyfarth, R. M., 1978, Social relationships among adult male and female baboons. II. Behaviour throughout the female reproductive cycle, Behaviour 64:227–247.
Sigg, H., 1980, Differentiation of female positions in hamadryas one-male units, Z. Tierpsychol. 53:265–302.
Sigg, H., Stolba, A., Abegglen, J. J., and Dasser, V., 1982, Life history of hamadryas baboons: Physical development, infant mortality, reproductive parameters, and family relationships, Primates 23:473–487.
Smuts, B. B., 1985, Sex and Friendship in Baboons, Aldine, New York.
Sokal, R. R. and Rohlf, F. J., 1981, Biometry, W.H. Freeman, New York.
Stammbach, E., 1978, On social differentiation in groups of captive female hamadryas baboons, Behaviour 67:322–338.
Stammbach, E. and Kummer, H., 1982, Individual contributions to a dyadic interaction: An analysis of baboon grooming, Anim. Behav. 30:964–972.
Strum, S. C., 1994, Reconciling aggression and social manipulation as means of competition. I. Life-history perspective, Int. J. Primatol. 15:739–765.
Sugawara, K., 1979, Sociological study of a wild group of hybrid baboons between Papio anubis and Papio hamadryas in the Awash Valley, Ethiopia, Primates 20:21–56.
Sugawara, K., 1982, Sociological comparison between two wild groups of anubis-hamadryas hybrid baboons. Afr. Study Monogr. 2:73–131.
Sugawara, K., 1988, Ethological study of the social behavior of hybrid baboons between Papio anubis and P. hamadryas in free-ranging groups, Primates 29:429–448.
Swedell, L., 2002, Affiliation among females in wild hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas), Int. J. Primatol. 23:1205–1226.
Swedell, L., 2006, Strategies of Sex and Survival in Hamadryas Baboons: Through a Female Lens, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Vervaecke, H., Dunbar, R. I. M., van Elsacker, L., and Verheyen, R., 1992, Interactions with and spatial proximity to the males in relation to rank of captive female adult hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas), Acta Zoologica et Pathologica Anterverpiensia 82:61–77.
Wrangham, R. W., 1980, An ecological model of female-bonded primate groups, Behaviour 75:262–299.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Beehner, J.C., Bergman, T.J. (2006). Female Behavioral Strategies of Hybrid Baboons in the Awash National Park, Ethiopia. In: Swedell, L., Leigh, S.R. (eds) Reproduction and Fitness in Baboons: Behavioral, Ecological, and Life History Perspectives. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer, Boston, MA . https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-33674-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-33674-9_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-30688-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-33674-9
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)