Work

Use of palm trees as a sleeping site for hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas) in Ethiopia

Year: 2007

Type: article

Abstract: Hamadryas baboons sleep on cliffs throughout their range, and this can be attributed to the safety cliffs provide against predators in the absence of tall trees. In this paper, we report the first documented occurrence of hamadryas baboons sleeping in doum palm trees rather than on cliffs. Data derive from a study of hamadryas baboons at the Filoha site in lowland Ethiopia. During all-day follows, data were collected on travel patterns, band activity, and location. Variation in the baboons' home range was characterized using vegetation transects. We discovered that one band in this population, Band 3, occasionally slept in doum palm trees (Hyphaene thebaica). The palm tree sleeping site differed from other palm fragments in the baboons' home range in that it contained a higher density of palm trees. Possible factors influencing this unique use of palm trees as a sleeping site include access to palm fruit, avoiding contact with Afar nomads, avoiding sharing sleeping cliffs with other bands, protection from predators, and the lack of cliffs in a section of the baboons' home range. Evidence from this study suggests that the palm tree sleeping site is used because it affords better protection from predators than other palm fragments in an area of the band's home range that does not contain cliffs.

Source: American Journal of Primatology

DOI: 10.1002/ajp.20465

Authors: Amy Schreier, Larissa Swedell

Institutions: The Graduate Center, CUNY, City University of New York, New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, Queens College, CUNY

Language: English

Topic: Primate Behavior and Ecology

Subfield: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: green

Funders: Panthera, City University of New York