"Up until now," she said, "the best candidates for 'Dad of the Year' awards come from species that maintain long-term pair bonds, like the siamang and owl monkeys."
That the more promiscuous, less committed baboons also vie for such honors suggests that "a capacity for paternal care is not tightly linked to social organization," said Silk. Rather, she said, it may be a "fundamental element" of male reproductive strategies among primates.
"Humans," Silk said, "represent another species with high paternal investment."
The study, which hinged on data collected by three Kenyan research assistants and cooperation with the Kenyan government, monitored 75 juvenile baboons for whom fathers were clearly identified through comparisons of DNA in fecal samples. About half of the juveniles still shared social groups with their fathers. The observers also identified 15 adult males who lived in groups that included their own offspring and unrelated juveniles; all but three of the 15 provided more care to their own kin.
From July 1999 to July 2002, the observers witnessed 73 disputes in which a male intervened in a dispute between one of his offspring and an unrelated baboon; and in 69 of those conflicts, fathers sided with their offspring.
While the biologists were able to analyze DNA samples from baboon scats to identify the players, it remains unclear exactly how baboon fathers identify their offspring.
They probably rely upon "multiple cues," the researchers believe. "That is," said Alberts, "they use any information they can to estimate their own paternity."
An adult male, for example, may associate his monopolization of the mother's fertile period with the baboons born soon thereafter, which is considered a behavioral cue. Or he may rely on phenotypic cues, ones based on observable characteristics derived from
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Contact: Sean Kearns
skearns@nsf.gov
703-292-7963
National Science Foundation
10-Sep-2003