Journal article icon

Journal article

Does a trade off between fertility and predation risk explain social evolution in baboons?

Abstract:
The distribution of group sizes in woodland baboons forms a pair of demographic oscillators that trade fertility off against predation risk. Fertility rates, however, set an upper limit on group size of around 90–95 animals. Despite this, two species of baboons (hamadryas and gelada) have groups that significantly exceed this limit, suggesting that these two species have been able to break through this fertility constraint. We suggest that they have done so by adopting a form of social substructuring that uses males as ‘hired guns’ to minimize the stresses of living in the unusually large groups required by high predation risk habitats.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

Actions


Access Document


Publisher copy:
10.1111/jzo.12644

Authors


More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Experimental Psychology
Role:
Author
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
Medical Sciences Division
Department:
Experimental Psychology
Role:
Author


More from this funder
Funding agency for:
Dunbar, R
Grant:
295663


Publisher:
Wiley
Journal:
Journal of Zoology More from this journal
Volume:
308
Issue:
1
Pages:
9-15
Publication date:
2018-12-23
Acceptance date:
2018-11-16
DOI:
EISSN:
1469-7998
ISSN:
0952-8369


Keywords:
Pubs id:
pubs:945563
UUID:
uuid:d5a95d28-d1e1-44b4-80f0-677340e57b84
Local pid:
pubs:945563
Source identifiers:
945563
Deposit date:
2018-12-22

Terms of use



Views and Downloads






If you are the owner of this record, you can report an update to it here: Report update to this record

TO TOP