SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AMONG ADULT FEMALE BABOONS

Adult female baboons [Papio cynocephalus ursinus] were studied over a 15 mo. period which included sexual cycling, pregnancy and lactation. Females could be ranked in a linear dominance hierarchy which accurately predicted the direction, but not the frequency, or agonistic interactions. Females were most attractive to others during lactation, receiving less aggression, more friendly gestures, more grooming and grooming by more different individuals than females in other reproductive states. In all 3 reproductive states high-ranking females were more attractive than others. When differences in behavior related to changes in reproductive state were factored out, individual females groomed animals next to themselves in the dominance hierarchy more than others. A model is presented showing how rank-related access and attractiveness may interact to perpetuate this distribution of grooming over time.