Autor(es):
Biro, Dora ; Muschinski, Jana ; Hammond, Philippa ; Bobe, René ; Bamford, Marion K. ; Capelli, Cristian ; de Oliveira Coelho, João ; Farassi, Rassina ; Lüdecke, Tina ; Martinez, Felipe I. ; Silva, Maria Joana Ferreira ; Mathe, Jacinto ; Carvalho, Susana
Data: 2025
Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/27506
Origem: Sapientia - Universidade do Algarve
Assunto(s): Acacia; Bark-stripping; Behavioral variation; Chacma baboon; Habitat survey; Non-technological material traces
Descrição
Objectives: Baboons possess sophisticated physical and social cognitive abilities; hence, the lack of evidence to date of large-scale behavioral variation in these primates is puzzling. Here we studied a candidate for such variation—the stripping of barkfrom Acacia robusta trees for consumption of the sap and soft tissue underneath—in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique.Materials and Methods: We surveyed an area inhabited by ~60 troops of chacma baboons, recording the availability andcharacteristics of the target trees, as well as the presence or absence of bark-stripping at 45 habitat plots distributed across a gridcovering an area of ~300 km 2 .Results: Camera traps confirmed the presence of baboons at all habitat plots, and we identified regional clumping in the distri-bution of the behavior, a pattern consistent across two consecutive years. Proportion and mean height/width of A. robusta did notpredict whether bark-stripping behavior was present at a given site, nor did broader ecological variables such as habitat type anddistance to the nearest water source. However, stripping sites had significantly higher numbers of A. robusta than non-strippingsites, and within a given bark-stripping site, baboons preferred to strip taller and wider trees among those available.Discussion: The prominent geographical clustering we uncovered may have been driven by opportunity (i.e., the prevalenceof A. robusta at a given site), but is also consistent with a possible (non-mutually exclusive) cultural interpretation. We proposeavenues for future research on Gorongosa's baboons to better quantify the relative contributions of ecology, genetics, and social.
