Baboons are primates, a group of mammals that includes monkeys, apes and humans. Primates have large brains relative to their size and these clever adaptable creatures are thought to be the most intelligent of all animals.
How are baboons classified?
Living things can be organised into different groups. Species that are alike are grouped together. This is called classification.
Class: Mammals
Order: Primates
Family: Cercopithecidae
Species: Papio cynocephalus (yellow baboon)
There are over 180 species of primates, from the tiny 100g mouse lemur, to the 200kg gorilla. Five species of baboon are commonly recognised. These are Papio ursinus (chacma baboon), Papio papio (Western, Red, or Guinea baboon), Papio hamadryas (Sacred or Hamadryas baboon), Papio anubis (olive baboon) and Papio cynocephalus (yellow baboon). and Born Free takes action in ZambiaMalawi to protect the yellow baboon. Baboons vary in size from the 50cm 14kg Guinea baboon to the formidable 120cm 40kg Chacma baboon, plus there is a pronounced difference in size between males and females of each species.
Baboons are some of the largest non-hominid (non great apes) primates; only the mandrill and the drill are larger. Powerful and intimidating, this ground-dwelling genus are adapted to walk long distances on the ground, and are known as the ‘dog-faced monkeys’ due to their distinctive dog-like muzzle. The Hamadryas baboon was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, giving rise to its alternate name. The English name ‘baboon’ is thought to derive from the Egyptian baboon-god Babi.
Chacma baboons are found in southern Africa, Guinea baboons in the far west of Africa, Hamadryas baboons in the Horn of Africa and south-western Arabia, olive baboons in the north-central African savanna and yellow baboons in south-central and eastern Africa.
As long as a suitable supply of drinking water is available, baboons can live in wide variety of habitats from savanna grassland and woodland to gallery forests and rocky hills across Africa.
Baboons are opportunistic omnivores, with an extremely diverse diet exploiting a wide variety of foods - a real necessity in highly seasonal environments in which food availability varies in abundance throughout the year. Their diet is believed to be amongst the most diverse of any African mammal and foods include berries, seeds, pods, grass, shoots, twigs, fruits, bulbs, bark, flowers and roots, but also insects and a small quantity of meat such as small antelopes, birds, fish and even vervet monkeys.
Apart from their long muzzles, all baboons have close-set eyes under heavy brow ridges, powerful jaws and long, sharp upper canine teeth. Their fur is thick except on their muzzle and in some species males have a mane about the head and shoulders. The tail is short and brightly coloured rough spots on their protruding hindquarters provide cushioning, sitting is the baboons’ favoured position for feeding and sleeping.
Baboons are powerful fighters and show little fear of larger animals, including humans. They can successfully take on leopards, their worse enemies. Visual communication is important to deter both attacks from predators and fighting among male baboons, which can lead to costly injuries. Ritualised signals communicate threat including intense staring, eyelid displays, ground slapping, audible chewing, teeth grinding, yawning (to show formidable canine teeth), eyebrow-raising, ear flattening and shaking of rocks and branches.
Most baboons live in hierarchical ‘troops’ of five to 250 animals (most commonly 40-80) which are socially based on a core of females and may include several transient males. Baboon males leave their birth group, usually before they reach sexual maturity, whereas females are ‘philopatric’ and stay in the same ‘matriline’ group their whole life. Using vocal exchanges, baboons can determine dominance relations between individuals.
Females reach reproductive maturity around five years of age in the wild, and a female first gives birth around six years. Baboons can breed at any time of the year, depending on food supply. Male rank has a direct consequence on how many offspring he can sire. High-ranking males form sexual consortships more successfully than low-ranking males. Females typically give birth every other year, usually to a single infant, after a six month gestation. The young baboon weighs approximately one kilogram and is coloured black. The females tend to be the primary caretaker of the young, although several females will share the duties for all of their offspring.
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