Main description:

This volume brings together current research on the behavior, ecology, reproduction, and life history of baboons of the genus Papio, shedding light on what makes baboons successful. The book focuses on issues such as infanticide, mating strategies and investment, hybridization and genetics. The findings have broad applications to understanding the evolution of complex life history adaptations in other primates, and of humans in particular.

Contents:

Perspectives on Reproduction and Life History in Baboons.- Perspectives on Reproduction and Life History in Baboons.- Reproductive Behavior and Mating Strategies.- Infant Mortality, Paternity Certainty, and Female Reproductive Strategies in Hamadryas Baboons.- Female Behavioral Strategies of Hybrid Baboons in the Awash National Park, Ethiopia.- Hybrid Baboons and the Origins of the Hamadryas Male Reproductive Strategy.- The Social and Ecological Flexibility of Guinea Baboons: Implications for Guinea Baboon Social Organization and Male Strategies.- Social Organization, Reproductive Systems, and Mediation of Baboon Endogenous Virus (BaEV) Copy Number in Gelada, Hamadryas, and Other Papio Baboons.- Life History, Development, and Parenting Strategies.- Reproduction, Mortality, and Female Reproductive Success in Chacma Baboons of the Okavango Delta, Botswana.- Maternal Characteristics and Offspring Growth in Chacma Baboons: A Life History Perspective.- Whose Life Is It Anyway? Maternal Investment, Developmental Trajectories, and Life History Strategies in Baboons.- Ontogeny, Life History, and Maternal Investment in Baboons.- Testicular Size, Developmental Trajectories, and Male Life History Strategies in Four Baboon Taxa.- The Evolutionary Past and the Research Future: Environmental Variation and Life History Flexibility in a Primate Lineage.