A Reanalysis of Seasonal Chacma Baboon (Papio hamadryas ursinus) Dyadic Grooming
Abstract (300 words maximum)
In this research we seek to determine the impact of baboon behavioral sampling procedures on patterns of baboon grooming. Grooming is a cooperative behavior that solidifies social bonding and serves as a measure of sociality among group-living non-human primates. Time spent grooming is limited by time spent in other behaviors and daylight available. Furthermore, grooming partnerships are limited to a few individuals within the group. How individuals choose to spend this time, and with which individuals, can help explain sociality among human’s close relatives. Chacma baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) live in large groups composed of matrilines, and at its southernmost range experience fewer daylight hours to groom during the winter. Using whole and fractional dyadic grooming bouts, Ellwanger (2020) demonstrated that female baboons modified their grooming behavior between seasons due to fewer daylight hours during the winter. However, fractional grooming bouts could skew analysis of grooming behavior by incorporating partially observed bouts. In this project we reevaluate patterns of female grooming behavior by removing fractional grooming bouts to determine if this procedure impacts the final analytical result. We compare reanalyzed data to the original dataset and compare seasonal grooming patterns within the modified dataset. 597 fractional grooming bouts were removed, which accounted for over 60% of the total time of the original grooming bouts. Preliminary results show that by removing fractional grooming bouts, total average time spent grooming and grooming bond strength decreased. Further results will also determine the degree of change in average grooming bout length and grooming bout length between seasons and if the number of partners and strength of partnerships changed between seasons.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - Geography & Anthropology
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Dr. Nicholas Ellwanger
A Reanalysis of Seasonal Chacma Baboon (Papio hamadryas ursinus) Dyadic Grooming
In this research we seek to determine the impact of baboon behavioral sampling procedures on patterns of baboon grooming. Grooming is a cooperative behavior that solidifies social bonding and serves as a measure of sociality among group-living non-human primates. Time spent grooming is limited by time spent in other behaviors and daylight available. Furthermore, grooming partnerships are limited to a few individuals within the group. How individuals choose to spend this time, and with which individuals, can help explain sociality among human’s close relatives. Chacma baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) live in large groups composed of matrilines, and at its southernmost range experience fewer daylight hours to groom during the winter. Using whole and fractional dyadic grooming bouts, Ellwanger (2020) demonstrated that female baboons modified their grooming behavior between seasons due to fewer daylight hours during the winter. However, fractional grooming bouts could skew analysis of grooming behavior by incorporating partially observed bouts. In this project we reevaluate patterns of female grooming behavior by removing fractional grooming bouts to determine if this procedure impacts the final analytical result. We compare reanalyzed data to the original dataset and compare seasonal grooming patterns within the modified dataset. 597 fractional grooming bouts were removed, which accounted for over 60% of the total time of the original grooming bouts. Preliminary results show that by removing fractional grooming bouts, total average time spent grooming and grooming bond strength decreased. Further results will also determine the degree of change in average grooming bout length and grooming bout length between seasons and if the number of partners and strength of partnerships changed between seasons.