Vigilance in young baboons: Effects of habitat, age, sex and maternal rank on glance rate

Glance rates, a measure of vigilance, were sampled in infant and young juvenile yellow baboons, Papio cynocephalus, in Amboseli, Kenya, to test ecological and social predictions about the ontogeny of vigilance. Glance rates of young baboons did not vary between closed and open habitats, but did vary with sex, maternal rank and age. Daughters of low-ranking mothers glanced significantly more often than daughters of high-ranking mothers, and the converse was true for males. Glance rates of females, but not males, decreased significantly between 6 and 24 months of age. © 1994 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Duke Scholars

Author Susan C. Alberts Biology