Inbreeding and reproductive success in a natural chacma baboon, Papio cynocephalus ursinus, population

Abstract

Six of 19 male chacma baboons living in a natural environment in Botswana were born in troops where they attained alpha status. At least three of these six males sired young in their natal troops. Nine other paternal males were immigrants, hence they were more distantly related to their mates, who were all natal. Offspring of natal and immigrant parents survived equally well to 90 days. These observations suggest that for this and other mammalian species the evolutionary history of a population may determine inbreeding costs.