Browsing by Author "Muschinski, Jana"
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- Could it be culture? An inter-troop comparison of baboon behaviour in Gorongosa National Park, MozambiquePublication . Muschinski, Jana; Lewis-Bevan, Lynn; Biro, Dora; Carvalho, SusanaBaboons in Gorongosa National Park have been observed to strip bark off Acacia robusta trees, chew the fibres underneath the bark, and spit out wadges. These actions leave identifiable marks on trees. Work conducted during 2018 indicates regional variation exists within the park1. Some trees exhibit stripping on the trunk, likely by elephants, in addition to (or instead of) on upper branches. We resurveyed all sites for bark stripping in 2019 and tested several ecological hypotheses following the method of exclusion2, 3.
- West side story: regional inter‐troop variation in baboon bark‐stripping at gorongosa national park, MozambiquePublication . Biro, Dora; Muschinski, Jana; Hammond, Philippa; Bobe, René; Bamford, Marion K.; Capelli, Cristian; de Oliveira Coelho, João; Farassi, Rassina; Lüdecke, Tina; Martinez, Felipe I.; Silva, Maria Joana Ferreira; Carvalho, Susana; Mathe, JacintoObjectives: Baboons possess sophisticated physical and social cognitive abilities; hence, the lack of evidence to date of largescale behavioral variation in these primates is puzzling. Here we studied a candidate for such variation—the stripping of bark from Acacia robusta trees for consumption of the sap and soft tissue underneath—in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. Materials and Methods: We surveyed an area inhabited by ~60 troops of chacma baboons, recording the availability and characteristics of the target trees, as well as the presence or absence of bark-stripping at 45 habitat plots distributed across a grid covering an area of ~300km2. Results: Camera traps confirmed the presence of baboons at all habitat plots, and we identified regional clumping in the distribution of the behavior, a pattern consistent across two consecutive years. Proportion and mean height/width of A. robusta did not predict whether bark-stripping behavior was present at a given site, nor did broader ecological variables such as habitat type and distance to the nearest water source. However, stripping sites had significantly higher numbers of A. robusta than non-stripping sites, and within a given bark-stripping site, baboons preferred to strip taller and wider trees among those available. Discussion: The prominent geographical clustering we uncovered may have been driven by opportunity (i.e., the prevalence of A. robusta at a given site), but is also consistent with a possible (non-mutually exclusive) cultural interpretation. We propose avenues for future research on Gorongosa's baboons to better quantify the relative contributions of ecology, genetics, and social.
- West Side Story: regional inter‐troop variation in baboon bark‐stripping at gorongosa national park, MozambiquePublication . Biro, Dora; Muschinski, Jana; Hammond, Philippa; Bobe, René; Bamford, Marion K.; Capelli, Cristian; de Oliveira Coelho, João; Farassi, Rassina; Lüdecke, Tina; Martinez, Felipe I.; Silva, Maria Joana Ferreira; Mathe, Jacinto; Carvalho, SusanaObjectives: Baboons possess sophisticated physical and social cognitive abilities; hence, the lack of evidence to date of large-scale behavioral variation in these primates is puzzling. Here we studied a candidate for such variation—the stripping of barkfrom Acacia robusta trees for consumption of the sap and soft tissue underneath—in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique.Materials and Methods: We surveyed an area inhabited by ~60 troops of chacma baboons, recording the availability andcharacteristics of the target trees, as well as the presence or absence of bark-stripping at 45 habitat plots distributed across a gridcovering an area of ~300 km 2 .Results: Camera traps confirmed the presence of baboons at all habitat plots, and we identified regional clumping in the distri-bution of the behavior, a pattern consistent across two consecutive years. Proportion and mean height/width of A. robusta did notpredict whether bark-stripping behavior was present at a given site, nor did broader ecological variables such as habitat type anddistance to the nearest water source. However, stripping sites had significantly higher numbers of A. robusta than non-strippingsites, and within a given bark-stripping site, baboons preferred to strip taller and wider trees among those available.Discussion: The prominent geographical clustering we uncovered may have been driven by opportunity (i.e., the prevalenceof A. robusta at a given site), but is also consistent with a possible (non-mutually exclusive) cultural interpretation. We proposeavenues for future research on Gorongosa's baboons to better quantify the relative contributions of ecology, genetics, and social.