Grantee Spotlight: Alecia Carter
Alecia Carter was awarded a Leakey Foundation Research grant during our spring 2016 cycle for her project entitled "Constraints on the Evolution of Culture: Social Information in Namibian Baboons.”
Rough Childhoods Have Ripple Effects for Wild Baboons
A new study supported by The Leakey Foundation finds that wild baboons that experience multiple misfortunes during the first years of life grow up to live much shorter adult lives.
Origin Stories Episode 06: Being a Nice Animal
For our sixth episode we have the first in a collection of stories looking at human behavior and how it’s been shaped by evolution. Dorothy Cheney and Robert Seyfarth share their research on the baboon mind.
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Dorothy Cheney and Robert Seyfarth study the communication and social behavior of wild non-human primates. They received
From the Field: Amanda Lea, Amboseli Basin, Kenya
This January we introduced you to Amanda Lea. She was awarded a Leakey Foundation research grant in our fall 2014 cycle for her project entitled “Effects of social conditions on DNA methylation and immune function.” Here she updates us on the her latest field season.
When we dart a baboon, we process it near its social group so that the
Baboons prefer to spend time with others of the same age, status, and personality
New research funded in part by The Leakey Foundation shows that chacma baboons within a troop spend more of their time with baboons that have similar characteristics to themselves: associating with those of a similar age, dominance rank and even personality type such as boldness. This is known as homophily, or ‘love of the same’.
Grooming. Photo courtesy of Alecia