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“Following,” an Alternative Mating Strategy Used by Male Olive Baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis): Quantitative Behavioral and Functional Description

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Abstract

Recent data reveal that high-ranking males are unable to monopolize sexual access to fertile females, suggesting the potential evolutionary significance of alternative strategies across many taxa. We examined a well known behavior, “following” of a consortship by adult male olive baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis), that has received little empirical attention. Four consort takeover tactics have been suggested, for both follower and nonfollower males: takeover of an abandoned consort female, individual aggressive challenge to oust the consort male, coalitionary challenge to oust the consort male, or an opportunistic consort takeover relying on the consort male being distracted. We addressed the following questions: 1) How does the behavior of followers differ from nonfollowers? 2) Is following an effective alternative mating strategy? 3) What tactics do followers use to obtain access to fertile females? 4) Do dominance rank and female cycle day influence tactic expression? We studied two habituated groups of olive baboons from September 2009 to July 2010 in Kenya. Followers had a higher rate of agonistic interactions with the consort male and affiliative interactions with other followers. Overall, 74% of consort takeovers were executed by follower males of the targeted consortships. Each of the four consort takeover tactics were used by both follower and nonfollower males, although followers used the individual aggressive challenge and coalitionary challenge tactics more often than nonfollowers. Dominance rank, but not female cycle day, influenced the expression of consort takeover tactics. Our findings indicate that following provides males with sexual access to females.

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Acknowledgments

The research was sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Kenya, the National Museums of Kenya, and the Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi. We are extremely grateful to J. Zeitz for support of the project research on Segera Ranch, and to Ngali ole Resin Lenguya, Patrick Leparleen, the staff of ADC Mutara and Segera Ranch, and the residents of Thome B for their important assistance throughout the study. Emily Aronoff, Mohammed Boru, Jarsa Buke, and Nancy Moinde assisted significantly in the collection of data; we also thank Francis Ngasike Kokoi and Anne Nakaredi for their contributions to maintaining the project. R. A. Palombit thanks Philip and Janine Valentine and Hillel and Lydia Oron for critical long-term logistical aid of the project. L. M. Danish thanks Peter Morin for his advice on the statistical analyses. We thank Emily Aronoff, Nancy Moinde, Robert Trivers, two anonymous reviewers, and Associate Editor James Higham for their comments on this manuscript. The research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Leakey Foundation, the Fulbright (IIE) Foundation, the American Society of Primatologists, and the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies (Rutgers University).

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  1. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901, USA

    Lisa M. Danish

  2. Rutgers University and Center for Human Evolutionary Studies, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901, USA

    Ryne A. Palombit

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  1. Lisa M. Danish
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Correspondence to Lisa M. Danish.

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Danish, L.M., Palombit, R.A. “Following,” an Alternative Mating Strategy Used by Male Olive Baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis): Quantitative Behavioral and Functional Description. Int J Primatol 35, 394–410 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-013-9743-3

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