The objective of this project is to understand the mechanisms that underlie the vocal communication and behavior of free-ranging baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus).
The first aim i s to characterize the information content of alarm calls and determine their function in baboon society. Baboon alarm calls appear to be adapted for long-range communication, occur in different contexts, and evoke qualitatively different responses in the recipient. From an evolutionary perspective, the existence of these factors favors the development of discrete, acoustically distinct call types such as has been identified in vervet monkeys. However, baboon alarm calls resemble human speech in that they are graded rather than discrete. Experimentally controlled recordings of these alarm calls will be played back to individuals in specific contexts to examine the functional significance of these calls and to determine if the listeners perceive these calls as distinct signals.
The second aim i s to examine baboons' perception of their own and other individuals' social relationships, concentrating on recognition of each other's relative dominance ranks. As in the first aim, experimentally controlled playbacks will be used. This technology permits the investigator to create anomalous or consistent dominance interactions and to monitor baboon reactions.
| Cheney, Dorothy L; Crockford, Catherine; Engh, Anne L et al. (2015) The costs of parental and mating effort for male baboons. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 69:303-312 |
| Seyfarth, Robert M; Cheney, Dorothy L (2014) The evolution of language from social cognition. Curr Opin Neurobiol 28:5-9 |
| Gustison, Morgan L; le Roux, Aliza; Bergman, Thore J (2012) Derived vocalizations of geladas (Theropithecus gelada) and the evolution of vocal complexity in primates. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 367:1847-59 |
| Moscovice, Liza R; Ziegler, Toni E (2012) Peripheral oxytocin in female baboons relates to estrous state and maintenance of sexual consortships. Horm Behav 62:592-7 |
| Cheney, Dorothy L; Silk, Joan B; Seyfarth, Robert M (2012) Evidence for intra-sexual selection in wild female baboons. Anim Behav 84:21-27 |
| Silk, Joan B; Alberts, Susan C; Altmann, Jeanne et al. (2012) Stability of partner choice among female baboons. Anim Behav 83:1511-1518 |
| Cheney, Dorothy L (2011) Extent and limits of cooperation in animals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108 Suppl 2:10902-9 |
| Silk, Joan B; Beehner, Jacinta C; Bergman, Thore J et al. (2010) Strong and consistent social bonds enhance the longevity of female baboons. Curr Biol 20:1359-61 |
| Kitchen, Dawn M; Bergman, Thore J; Cheney, Dorothy L et al. (2010) Comparing responses of four ungulate species to playbacks of baboon alarm calls. Anim Cogn 13:861-70 |
| Cheney, Dorothy L; Moscovice, Liza R; Heesen, Marlies et al. (2010) Contingent cooperation between wild female baboons. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107:9562-6 |
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