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Patterns of movement in open country baboons
Author(s) -
Harding Robert S. O.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330470215
Subject(s) - baboon , movement (music) , social organization , field (mathematics) , geography , papio anubis , economic geography , sociology , anthropology , ecology , biology , mathematics , philosophy , pure mathematics , aesthetics
Abstract In early accounts, baboons are described as invariably assuming a particular troop formation when moving across open country. This movement pattern is an integral part of a model of social organization in which behavior is a response to predator pressure. The model, in turn, has been applied to describe populations of early hominids moving onto the savannah from the forest. The special formation was not observed during a year's study of free‐ranging baboons in Kenya, nor has it been reported by other field workers since its original description. Thus at least one aspect of an early model of baboon social organization lacks empirical support and this model should not be used uncritically in reconstructing the behavior of early human groups.