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Carnivorous and Omnivores Animals, Excluding Felids
Baboons (Papio sp.)
Baboons (Papio sp.)
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Baboons (Papio sp.)
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A thread to post information on the morphology and ecology of all Papio species! I have always been fascinated by the baboons since a young age, recently picking up some studies on their biology
Here is an interesting study from 1972 on the morphometrics of 300+ olive baboon individuals of varying age classes - size segregations in place were decided by tooth eruption. It is very interesting to see the immense variation between adult males and females.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
I know that the mandrill is no longer listed as a baboon, but close enough I would think to be included here.
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Yeah that works
Cool article from Africa Geographic:  *This image is copyright of its original author "With tracks resembling that of another interesting animal, the human, chacma baboons are primarily omnivorous, are found in surprisingly varied habitats and are extremely adaptable. They generally prefer semi-arid habitats but some live in tropical forests. The life of a baboon is not easy, being prey to leopards, cheetahs and other predators, and as such they will not be shy to flash their large canine teeth to make their intentions known. They spend most of their day on the ground, but with very good hearing and eyesight will quickly move into the trees in the presence of a predator. When a predator is detected, male baboons give a loud bark warning the troop. With safety in numbers, baboons live in troops of 15 to 80, 90, 100 and even more.  *This image is copyright of its original author Grooming is an important social interaction activity that is used to form and strengthen relationships among troop members, where male to female grooming may form short-term relationship during courtships, and females may interact with each other to gain acceptance. Playing an important role in the spreading of seeds and soil aeration, baboons feed on seeds, wild fruits, insects, and at times scorpions and the flesh of small birds and mammals. As Tanda Tula Safari Camp is unfenced and open to the bush, baboon troops often pass through the camp and can be seen jumping from tree to tree, making great photo opportunities for guests." http://africageographic.com/blog/the-chacma-baboon/
Older article, but still pretty cool news
Baboon-only sanctuary in Indiana a first of its kind *This image is copyright of its original author It's been a long time coming. Peaceable Primate Sanctuary welcomed its first five baboon residents this year after a more than decadelong quest to provide housing for primates that are no longer wanted or needed by research facilities, zoos and other places. The inspiration to build the baboon-only sanctuary sparked when Scott Kublisch, president, director and founder of the sanctuary, recognized the need for better facilities to house retired baboons. The animals are commonly used in biomedical research, and some are held privately as pets, and used for entertainment. Kublisch, who for 22 years worked as a roving animal keeper at Lincoln Park Zoo, sought a way to take action, to protect the primates. The project slowly but surely came to fruition when, in 2002, 39 acres of land was purchased to build housing for the primates. Through private donations and a series of efforts, the sanctuary has now expanded to 80 acres. The sanctuary, in Winamac, Ind., is the first place in North America that specializes in protecting baboons only. The sanctuary refers to itself as "a nonprofit retirement home for baboons that are retired from research facilities, roadside zoos or the pet industry." The three female baboons, Violet, Periwinkle and Juniper, settled in May 24 as the sanctuary's first group of residents, followed by two male baboons, AJ and Jerry, retirees from a research center, who arrived June 9. "It was good to have the female baboons bond first before the male baboons came in," Kublisch said. He says the friendship built among Violet, Periwinkle and Juniper allows them to protect each other if the male baboons act rough at times. All five baboons are olive baboons, a species commonly found in African safaris. The sanctuary already has a plan in place to welcome more baboons this month. As of now, the sanctuary is not open to the public but hopes to host events and fundraisers in the future so that the public can come and meet the baboons. Photographs of the five baboon residents can be found on the Peaceable Primate Sanctuary's Facebook and Instagram pages." http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/pets/ct-baboon-sanctuary-0615-20160615-story.html
Fascinating research coming from Guinea baboon vocalizations
Baboons Vocalizations Hint at Origins of Human Speech "A baboon's grunt is different from its bark, and new research has found that the primates use five distinct vowel-like soundsthat were previously thought to be unique to modern humans. The ability to create clear vowel sounds is connected to the origins of speech, according to researchers. However, previous research asserted that the human larynx, located lower in the neck, is required in order to produce sets of distinct vowels. Nonhuman primates' higher-located larynx, therefore, was believed to be insufficient to create the distinct sounds. But now, a cross-disciplinary team of scientists has studied 1,335 spontaneous vocalizations produced by 15 male and female Guinea baboons. These vocalizations included distinct types of grunts, a bark, a yak, a "wa hoo" and a sound made during copulation. [8 Humanlike Behaviors of Primates] The distinct vowel-like sounds the baboons make are difficult to compare to human speech, because human speech is intertwined with language and the vocalizations are different, said study co-author Tom Sawallis, a linguist at the University of Alabama. Moreover, unlike human language, the baboons' vowel-like sounds are made in calls, such as the yak or "wa hoo" call, he added. "First of all, the 'ooo' sound — it's like the scary ghost 'Oooooo,'" Sawallis told Live Science. "And the 'a' is like in 'cat.'" The baboons also make an "aw" sound, an "ih" sound and an "uh," the researchers said. Humans create vowel sounds with precise movements of the tongue — high, low, front and back. The researchers found that baboons similarly have muscles in their tongues to control sound in the same way. The scientists studied the vocal-tract anatomy of two baboons that died of natural causes, and dissected the tongues. They found that compared with humans, baboons have a child-like vocal tract (which filters sound produced in the larynx) and adult-like vocal cords. Audio recordings of the baboons demonstrated that the animals can create vowel-like sounds, the researchers said. Beyond confirming that baboon vocalizations have similarities to human vowels, the new research suggests a much earlier origin of speech, according to the scientists. "The previous hypothesis [of requiring a low larynx to produce vowel sounds] meant there was a hard boundary before which nothing significant could have evolved for speech," Sawallis said. "We have shown that you can get five contrasting vowel-like sounds from monkeys. So, we infer that there was a vowel-production seed that was available in our last common ancestor with baboons." The idea that distinct speech patterns were restricted to modern humans, who originated in Africa about 400,000 years ago, left scientists thinking that language originated relatively recently, within the past 70,000 to 100,000 years. However, the researchers noted that the last common ancestor of baboons and humans would have had the vocalization ability to produce vowels. This would place the potential origin of speech at about 25 million years ago, according to the study. The detailed findings were published online Jan. 11 in the journal PLOS ONE." http://www.livescience.com/57486-baboon-vowel-sounds-human-speech.html Evidence of a Vocalic Proto-System in the Baboon (Papio papio) Suggests Pre-Hominin Speech Precursors  *This image is copyright of its original author Abstract Language is a distinguishing characteristic of our species, and the course of its evolution is one of the hardest problems in science. It has long been generally considered that human speech requires a low larynx, and that the high larynx of nonhuman primates should preclude their producing the vowel systems universally found in human language. Examining the vocalizations through acoustic analyses, tongue anatomy, and modeling of acoustic potential, we found that baboons (Papio papio) produce sounds sharing the F1/F2 formant structure of the human [ɨ æ ɑ ɔ u] vowels, and that similarly with humans those vocalic qualities are organized as a system on two acoustic-anatomic axes. This confirms that hominoids can produce contrasting vowel qualities despite a high larynx. It suggests that spoken languages evolved from ancient articulatory skills already present in our last common ancestor with Cercopithecoidea, about 25 MYA. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0169321   
The hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas), is apparently the northernmost species of the baboon, native to the Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia, at least), and the region of the Sarat Mountains in the south-western part of the Arabian Peninsula (particularly south-western Saudi Arabia, and western Yemen).
Arabian male in the Hijaz Mountains (a sub-range of the Sarawat) near At-Ta’if (21° 21′ 59.75″ N, 40° 15′ 33.43″ E); credit: Nick Shields (12th of October, 2012): https://www.flickr.com/photos/blueshields/8083148924/ African female carrying a baby in Awash National Park, Ethiopia; credit: Charles J. Sharp (19th of December, 2017; 16:36:07): https://www.sharpphotography.co.uk/ 
Daniel Rosengren: " Olive baboons are omnivorous and will eat almost anything they can find. Usually plants and small mammals and birds. This male had caught a little gazelle. When I lived in Serengeti I always tried to make sure that the house was baboon proof. These very clever animals know how to open doors and will notice that one window that had been forgotten open. They would not only steal food, but they would also make a complete mess in the house. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. "
Ricardo Casarin: " Baboon! I really like to watch these animals! What a characters!! Babuíno! "
Daniel Rosengren: " Olive Baboons live in troops of up to 150 individuals. In this photo, about 45 individuals can be seen, but the stream of monkey just kept on going, both before and after this photo. It was one of the largest troops I ever saw. A very impressive sight. This photo was taken just before the lockdown of most countries and social distancing was required.
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. "
David Yarrow:" Go Ahead Punk, Make My Day
Every year, as CGI capability improves, a richer and richer variety of fantasy monsters and creatures appear in movies and TV series. We drift into new worlds and escape from our own. Yet—and here is the irony—there are animals on our planet today that are almost beyond the stuff of fantasy but are in fact very real. I am not sure what this large gelada baboon was thinking, but I am going to guess that he found my presence, 12,000 feet up, a little irritating. This was his patch of land, and who the hell was I to be trespassing? I have travelled the world in search of fresh detail and fresh content, and that March, in the Simien Mountains, was a truly special experience. Not for him, I am sure, but certainly for me. "
Wim van den Heever: " Super Baboon...! Taking flight now over the Okavango. "
Howard Cleland: " Tricky landing. Some of the troop won't use the bridge when crossing the river and know an alternative well used route to safety on the other side, for everyone. "
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