Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas)

Female Baboon with Baby

Photo Source: http://www.arkive.org/hamadryas-baboon/papio-hamadryas/image-G55062.html

Male Baboon

Photo Source: http://www.arkive.org/hamadryas-baboon/papio-hamadryas/image-G53993.html

Hamadryas Baboon as God Thoth

Circa 1400 BC, in the British Museum Photo Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamadryas_baboon

Baboon Family

Photo Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamadryas_baboon

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION:

Order: Primates

Suborder: Haplorrhini

Infraorder: Simiiformes

Parvorder: Catarrhini

Superfamily: Cercopithecoidea

Family: Cercopithecidae

Subfamily: Cercopithecinae

Genus: Papio

Species: hamadryas

COMMON NAME: Hamadryas Baboon

Sacred Baboon

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION:

Northeastern Africa (Ethiopia)
also ranges into easter Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti and northern Somalia
the species once extended to Egypt where it is now extinct

HABITAT:

hilly areas, arid sub desert, steppe, escarpments, alpine meadows and mountains
never far from water
occasionally migrates seasonally moving to mountain areas during the wet season

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Highly Sexually Dimorphic

Males:

long silver-grey shoulder cape
dog like faces
pronounced brow ridges
short tails which are tufted up
long limbs and short digits
coarse fur
a heavy cape, bushy cheeks
larger canines

Females:

brown with dark brown skin on the face
during periods of estrus, develop colorful and pronounced sexual swellings

DIET: Omnivore

grass
fruits
roots
tubers
small mammals
young gazelles

LOCOMOTION TYPE: Quadrupeds

known to sleep in trees

SOCIAL GROUP ORGANIZATION: Multi-Level

Levels

unit: composed of one male and a group of females
clan: two to three units which have come together, the leaders of each unit believed to be closely related
band: two three clans form a single 'band'

Bands exhibit stable membership, with males and females rarely dispersing beyond its boundaries. This is accomplished by unit leaders discouraging juveniles and infants from interacting with members from other bands.

PARENTAL CARE: Mothers are primary caregivers

mothers nurse and groom their offspring
no cooperative care by other females, although infants are the center of attention in the unit
males provide offspring protection, as well as play and carry offspring
males provide quasi-parental care to juvenile females that are being recruited in the formation of a new unit

COMMUNICATION:

Visual signals and gestures

social presenting in which females and juveniles present their hind quarters low to the ground, as a form of submission
sexual presenting, a practice done by females when ready for mating
threat behaviors like intense staring and head bobbing
canine teeth exposure by males when males threatened by other rivals or predators

Vocalization

teeth chattering and lip smacking by dominant baboon when a submissive baboon is presenting
a two phase bark/“wahoo call” in which males use this cue to ward off other rivals or feline predators
a shrill bark is produced by all except adult males to indicate any form of alarm

Tactile

social grooming
includes, reassuring touches, embraces, agonistic bites, and slaps

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:

Before becoming extinct in Egypt, they were considered sacred to the God, Thoth. Thoth’s attendant Astennu, appears as a Hamadryas Baboon and is one of the four Hamadryas Baboon’s guarding the lake of fire in Duat (Egyptian Underworld). At times, Thoth would also appears as this species.