Allogrooming and social status: An assessment of the contributions of female behavior to the social organization of hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas)

Abstract

Three isosexual social groups, each containing ten subadult female hamadryas monkeys (Papio hamadryas) were studied for seven months to test three hypotheses dealing with the assumptions underlyingSeyfarth's (1977) model of allogrooming and social organization. Aggression, avoid and allogrooming behaviors were used as criteria for studying the social organization of the groups. UsingLandau's (1951) index and discriminant analyses, we found that each of the three isosexual female social units conformed to a model of social organization having a non-linear hierarchy and only two major strata: a dominant animal and subordinates who were largely undifferentiated. This aspect of social organization is similar to the normal one-male unit leader harem form of social organization that is typical of hamadryas. However, since no male was present, the role of unit leader was filled by a female. The length of allogrooming bouts and the amount of allogroom received was affected by the social status of the recipient, with high status individuals receiving more than low status individuals. Social peers were not observed competing for access to high status individuals and did not exchange most of their grooming among themselves. We found that the assumptions underlyingSeyfarth's (1977) model were not appropriate for the type of social organization typically found in hamadryas monkeys, thus suggesting the need for further modification of the model so that it fits available data.