Mantled Baboon
| Mantled Baboon | ||||||||||||
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Mantelpavian (female left, male right, young below) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Papio hamadryas | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
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The mantled baboon ( Papio hamadryas ) is a species of primate from the genus of baboons within the family of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecidae). It lives in northeastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and differs significantly from other baboon species in terms of social behavior.
features
Mantled baboons reach a head body length of 61 to 76 centimeters and a tail length of 38 to 61 centimeters. At around 21 kilograms, the males are twice as heavy as the females, who only weigh around 9 kilograms. In addition to the striking size difference between the sexes that occurs in all baboon species, they also differ in the color of their fur. Males are silver-white in color and have a pronounced shoulder mane. The females, on the other hand, lack this and are brown. The snout is elongated and hairless, it is pink in males and duller, brownish in color in females. The hairless seat calluses are pink in both sexes.
distribution and habitat
Mantled baboons are the furthest north living baboons; their distribution area extends along the west coast of the Red Sea from Egypt (where they are now extinct) across Sudan to Eritrea , Ethiopia and Somalia . They are also found on the Arabian Peninsula , although it is still unclear whether this population was introduced by humans or not. They live in semi-deserts, savannas, and rocky areas, but they do need drinking facilities.
Way of life
Mantled baboons are diurnal and mainly stay on the ground, where they move on all fours. At night they retreat into cliffs or rocks. They live together in harem groups made up of one male and several females - an average of seven, and occasionally more than 15. The male leads and guards his females and makes sure to always have them close by. With this form, both sexes usually leave their birth group before reaching sexual maturity. Open fights between males for supremacy of an established harem group do occur, but are not the only way for males to get hold of females. Males without a harem sometimes follow a group and try to lure away individual females. Another possibility is that males look for teenage females who have just left their birth group. They look after them, groom their fur, provide them with food, and mate with them as soon as they become sexually mature. Several groups sometimes join together to form larger associations. Conflicts between groups within an association, for example about sleeping places, water holes or food, are resolved by aggressive fights between the males.
As highly social animals, robed baboons can communicate with one another in many ways, for example through their posture and facial expression, but also through sounds and direct body contact.
nutrition
Mantled baboons are omnivores that are adapted to their relatively dry habitat. They are not picky about food. From fruits and herbs to roots to insects, bird eggs and vertebrates, anything can be on your menu.
Like all baboons, they get by on relatively low-quality food and can only live on grasses for a while.
Reproduction
Mating can take place all year round. The male jealously watches over his females, biting or even chasing them when they approach other males. Nevertheless, "cheating" occasionally occurs, for example when single males follow a group looking for a partner. On such occasions there is often aggressive fighting among the males, but some still manage to steal a female from others.
After around 172 days of gestation, the female usually gives birth to a single young. This weighs 600 to 900 grams and is initially colored black. It is weaned after 6 to 15 months and sexual maturity occurs at 5 to 7 years of age.
The maximum age for an animal in human care was 37 years.
Mantled baboon and people
Mantled baboons were considered sacred animals in ancient Egypt . The god Thoth was sometimes depicted in baboon form. Among other things, Thoth was the god of science and the moon, and baboons were accordingly represented when teaching scribes . They are also mentioned in the Egyptian Book of the Dead , they sit at the bow of the funeral boat and the dead turns to them and asks for justice ( mate ) for himself in the realm of the dead. Baboons enjoyed protection and were even mummified after they died . Examples of this can be found in the "animal graves" in the Valley of the Kings (graves KV50 – KV52 ).
Other baboon-shaped deities were Babi , who was responsible for sexual ability in the afterlife and was portrayed as a baboon with an erect limb, and Hapi , the son of Horus , who acted as protector of the lungs of the dead.
The species epithet in the scientific name refers to the hamadryads , a group of tree spirits in Greek mythology . Carl von Linné named many animals after mythological themes without having to have a special reference.
Today they have disappeared in some places, such as Egypt. In Saudi Arabia they have adapted to the people, they live in the cities and look for food in garbage cans. Elsewhere they are persecuted as they devastate fields. Since their natural enemies, leopards and lions or hyenas , have almost been exterminated in their area of distribution, the loss of their habitat through conversion into arable and pasture land represents the main threat to the robed baboons. They were on the IUCN Red List ( International Union for Conservation of Nature ) 2008 listed as "not endangered" ( least concern ).
literature
- Thomas Geissmann : Comparative Primatology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin a. a. 2003, ISBN 3-540-43645-6 .
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
Individual evidence
Web links
- Information at Animal Diversity Web
- Papio hamadryas the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Primate Specialist Group, 1996. Retrieved on 11 May, 2006.