The goals of the proposed study are: first, to measure components of lifetime reproductive success (LRS) for individual male baboons, to attribute variance in LRS to the different components of LRS, and to identify particular traits of individuals as the sources of this variance. Second, to test the following hypotheses: (i) likelihood that a male baboon will disperse from groups in which he has female relatives is a function of the costs of dispersal and the benefits of avoiding inbreeding depression, (ii) males decrease mortality costs associated with dispersal by altering dispersal patterns, and (iii) males increase fecundity by altering dispersal patterns. The subjects are wild male baboons (Papio cycynocephalus) in Amboseli National Park, Kenya. Their life histories and dispersal patterns are being investigated in two ways, through a detailed cross-sectional behavioral study and through analysis of long-term demographic data. From these two types of data components of LRS will be estimated.
