Male and female guinea baboons equally successful as leaders

Date:
November 9, 2021
Source:
Deutsches Primatenzentrum (DPZ)/German Primate Center
Summary:
The sun rises over the Senegalese savannah. The Guinea baboons
have spent the night on their sleeping trees and set off together
to forage. In order to depart simultaneously as a group and
roam together during the day, the animals have to coordinate
well. Researchers have studied which animals lead the group and how
they decide when and in which direction to set off. They observed
Guinea baboons (Papio papio) on their forays for two years. The
overarching goal was to elucidate which factors favor despotic
versus democratic decisions in groups. The authors found that both
males and females initiate group departures and that both sexes
are similarly successful in doing so. This pattern distinguishes
Guinea baboons from hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas), in which
group movements are initiated and led exclusively by males.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The sun rises over the Senegalese savannah. The Guinea baboons have spent
the night on their sleeping trees and set off together to forage. In order
to depart simultaneously as a group and roam together during the day,
the animals have to coordinate well. Researchers from the German Primate
Center (DPZ) - - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research have studied which animals lead the group and how they decide when and in which direction
to set off. They observed Guinea baboons (Papio papio) on their forays
for two years. The overarching goal was to elucidate which factors favor despotic versus democratic decisions in groups. The authors found that
both males and females initiate group departures and that both sexes
are similarly successful in doing so. This pattern distinguishes Guinea
baboons from hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas), in which group movements
are initiated and led exclusively by males. Because both baboon species
live in a multilevel society but differ in how males and females relate
to each other, the latter is critical in determining which individuals influence the coordination of a group: In Guinea baboons, females are
more free and less subordinate to males. This is also reflected in the leadership structure.


========================================================================== Guinea baboons are one of six baboon species found in Africa. They
differ in appearance and behavior, as well as in their social
organization. Chacma, Kinda, olive, and yellow baboons live in uni-level societies. Groups consist of several males, females, and young. There
are clear hierarchies between the sexes.

Guinea baboons and also hamadryas baboons, in contrast, live in multilevel social organizations. Hamadryas baboons establish one-male units in which
a male lives with several females who mate only with him. Several such
units form so-called clans, and several clans form bands. Male-male as
well as male-female relationships tend to be characterized by competition
and subordination in hamadryas baboons. Guinea baboons also live in
small units with one 'primary' reproductively active male and up to six associated females and their offspring. Several units form parties and
two to three parties form gangs that forage together. Unlike hamadryas
baboons, males in Guinea baboons form close friendships with each other
and aggression rarely occurs. The females choose their males freely and
stay with them for weeks, months, or even years.

"We wanted to find out which individuals in Guinea baboons influence
collective decisions like group departures," says William O'Hearn, a PhD student in the Cognitive Ethology Laboratory at DPZ and co-author of the
study. "We already know that in chacma, olive and yellow baboons, males
and females lead the groups; in hamadryas baboons, it's exclusively
males. So it was interesting to ask what the situation is in Guinea
baboons." For this purpose, the researchers led by Davide Montanari,
a graduate student of the department, observed a group of 131 animals
at the DPZ research station Simenti in Senegal over a period of two
years. They analyzed 121 group departures and 100 group progressions. They recorded which group members initiated the departures and how the
animals were distributed in group progressions, depending on the sex,
age and reproductive status of the males.

The researchers were able to make three important observations: First,
both sexes initiate group departures. Adult and non-reproductive bachelor
males did this more often in about 60 percent of all cases than adult
females with about 36 percent. However, both sexes were similarly
successful, because in over 80 percent of the cases, the other animals
followed the initiators, irrespective of whether the initiator was male
or female. Second, the researchers found that both primary, reproductive
males and females lead the group. However, both sexes were equally likely
to be found in the middle or in the rear of the progression. Bachelor
males, on the other hand, were more likely to march in the front of
the group. They do not belong to any unit, travel faster, and may thus
overtake other group members. A third finding of the study is that
members of a unit travel together, as they have closer bonds with each
other than with members of other units.

"The results of the study show that although Guinea baboons live
in a similar social system as hamadryas baboons, they have a
different leadership structure," explains Julia Fischer, head of
the Cognitive Ethology Laboratory at DPZ. "Social organization
alone does not determine who leads the group. More important
are the inter-sexual relationships among the animals. In Guinea
baboons, females have a high degree of social and physical freedom
and are less subordinate to males than in hamadryas baboons. This
is reflected in their behavior during collective movement decisions." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Deutsches_Primatenzentrum_(DPZ)/German_Primate_Center.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Davide Montanari, William J. O'Hearn, Julien Hambuckers, Julia
Fischer,
Dietmar Zinner. Coordination during group departures and
progressions in the tolerant multi-level society of wild Guinea
baboons (Papio papio).

Scientific Reports, 2021; 11 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01356-6 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211109080854.htm

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