"In the same way that Jane Goodall's pioneering study of chimpanzees revealed their likeness to humans, Strum's work shows how, contrary to the popular image and the scientific evidence of the time, the more distantly related baboons are just as socially savvy.

Animals.

The most successful of African monkeys, baboons rank among nature's hardiest survivors. Equally at home in the highlands of Ethiopia in the north and the coastal scrublands of the Cape of Good Hope in the south, these intelligent, inquisitive creatures can eat almost anything and thrive almost anywhere. The grass-eating baboon species, the gelada, survives in Ethiopia's remote Simen Mountains. Across the rest of the continent, different subspecies of baboons have adapted to humid woodlands, dry savannas, deserts, and rainforests. Baboons have also shown a shrewd ability to live alongside humans-and, unlike so many other animals, even benefit from the association. This book paints a vivid portrait of baboons and their widely varying lifestyles: where the baboon lives and how the species manages to survive-and thrive-in such varying habitats; the social life of baboons, in which relationships often last entire lifetimes; the parenting habits of baboons, primarily displayed by the females; the complex social and survival skills the young baboons must learn; and the amazing social skills the baboon uses to avoid aggressive encounters within the social group. With its lively narrative style, attractive design, and appealing photographs Baboons informs and delights the reader. This highly readable and remarkable account, Baboons, is an authoritative study of the animals who have made themselves at home in so many contrasting environments throughout Africa. Based on the most up to date field research, the book presents a complete picture of baboons and their highly structured social groups. Topics range from the different noises and gestures baboons use to communicate, to parenting practices and the significance of grooming. Packed with fascinating facts and dramatic photographs, Baboons is one of three titles in a series about our primate relatives that has been published to inform and delight the reader.

Introduces the baboon's physical characteristics, habits, food, and relationship to humans.

Nonhuman primates have played critical roles in biomedical research, and they are among the few animals whose use in research continues to increase. The scienti?c value of nonhuman primates derives from their close phylogenetic proximity to man and their consequent anatomic, physiologic, and genetic similarities to man. Only nonhuman primates can provide adequate models for many complex physiological and disease processes of humans. The baboon is a relative newcomer to the repertoire of nonhuman primates used in biomedical research. However, in less than 50 years since its ?rst use in the U. S. , it has become one of the most popular laboratory primate species. It is larger than the other widely used monkey species, making it advantageous for many types of experiments and technological developments. It is extraordinarily hardy and highly fecund in captivity. It closely resembles humans in a variety of physiological and disease processes, such as cholesterol metabolism, early stages of atherosclerosis, and alcoholic liver disease. Its chromosomes closely resemble those of humans, and many genes of the two species lie in the same chromosomal order. Among all primates, baboons are the most widely used models for the genetics of susceptibility to complex diseases and they are the ?rst nonhuman primate for which a framework genetic linkage map was established. In addition, the baboon genome is currently being sequenced, and as a result the utility of this species for biomedical research will be dramatically increased.

Those who have been privileged to watch baboons long enough to know them as individuals and who have learned to interpret some of their more subtle interactions will attest that the rapid flow of baboon behavior can at times be overwhelming. In fact, some of the most sophisticated and influential observation methods for sampling vertebrate social behavior grew out of baboon studies, invented by scientists who were trying to cope with the intricacies of baboon behavior. Barbara Smuts' eloquent study of baboons reveals a new depth to their behavior and extends the theories needed to account for it. While adhering to the most scrupulous methodological strictures, the author maintains an open research strategy--respecting her subjects by approaching them with the open mind of an ethnographer and immersing herself in the complexities of baboon social life before formulating her research design, allowing her to detect and document a new level of subtlety in their behavior. At the Gilgil site, described in this book, she could stroll and sit within a few feet of her subjects. By maintaining such proximity she was able to watch and listen to intimate exchanges within the troop; she was able, in other words, to shift the baboons well along the continuum from "subject" to "informant." By doing so she has illuminated new networks of special relationships in baboons. This empirical contribution accompanies theoretical insights that not only help to explain many of the inconsistencies of previous studies but also provide the foundation for a whole new dimension in the study of primate behavior: analysis oft he dynamics of long-term, intimate relationships and their evolutionary significance. At every stage of research human observers have underestimated the baboon. These intelligent, curious, emotional, and long-lived creatures are capable of employing stratagems and forming relationships that are not easily detected by traditional research methods. In the process of unraveling their complex social relationships, Smuts has revealed that these masters of strategy and aggressive competition are equally capable of patience, tenderness, and concern. "Barbara B. Smuts" is professor of psychology and anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is also the author of Primate Societies.