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Loud calls as indicators of dominance in male baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus)

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Abstract

Adult male baboons (Papio cynocephalus) give loud two-syllable 'wahoo' calls during dawn choruses, interactions between groups, when chasing females, and in aggressive interactions with other males. These 'contest' wahoos are acoustically different from 'alarm' wahoos given to predators. In a study of free-ranging baboons in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, we found no significant correlations between the acoustic features of wahoos and adult male size; however, acoustic features were correlated with male dominance rank, age, and calling bout length. Here we show that other measures of calling behavior also appear to function as honest indicators of stamina and competitive ability. High-ranking males were more likely than middle- or low-ranking males to participate in wahoo bouts. They called at significantly higher rates, and their bouts were longer and contained more calls. All males were significantly more likely to participate in wahoo bouts with another male if their opponent's rank was similar to their own. Bouts involving males of similar ranks were longer, contained more wahoos, and involved calling at higher rates, than other bouts. In contests between males of similar ranks, the subordinate and dominant were equally likely to end the bout, whereas in contests involving males of disparate ranks, subordinates were significantly more likely to end the bout. Bouts involving males of similar rank were significantly more likely than others to escalate and result in physical fighting.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Office of the President of the Republic of Botswana and the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks for permission to conduct this research. The tireless support of J. Nicholson was essential to the project. M. Mokupi, M. Mpitsang, M. Kehaletse, and C. Seyfarth provided invaluable assistance in the field. We also thank G. Dudley, L. Bester-Dudley, J. Rawle, C. McAllister, Game Trackers, Mack Air, and Ensign Agencies for their friendship and logistical support. This paper was also improved by comments from C. Nunn and three anonymous reviewers. Research was supported by NSF grant IBN 9514001, NIH grant MH62249 and the University of Pennsylvania. This research complied with the laws of the Republic of Botswana and was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

    Dawn M. Kitchen & Robert M. Seyfarth

  2. Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Inselstrasse 22, 04103 Leipzig, Germany

    Julia Fischer

  3. Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

    Dorothy L. Cheney

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  1. Dawn M. Kitchen
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  2. Robert M. Seyfarth
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  4. Dorothy L. Cheney
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Correspondence to Dawn M. Kitchen.

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Communicated by C. Nunn

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Kitchen, D.M., Seyfarth, R.M., Fischer, J. et al. Loud calls as indicators of dominance in male baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 53, 374–384 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-003-0588-1

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