The editors address the questions of life history and reproduction by attempting to isolate the various components of reproductive success and fitness in baboons. This requires assembling research interests in morphology, behavior, ecology, and endocrinology of the five subspecies of Papio baboons. By synthesizing studies of reproduction, life history, growth, parenting, ecology, mate choice, and mating success, this volume sheds light on general features of life history traits and reproductive strategies that have made baboons successful. These findings have broad applications to understanding the evolution of complex life history adaptations, such as those characteristic of other primates, and humans in particular. Many of the top researchers on the field are contributing to this volume.
Perspectives on Reproduction and Life History in Baboons.- Infant Mortality, Paternity Certainty, and Female Reproductive Strategies in Hamadryas Baboons.- Female Behavioral Strategies in a Hybrid Baboon Group on the Awash National Park, Ethiopa.- Hybrid Baboons and the Origins of the Hamadryas Male Reproductive Strategies.- The Social and Ecological Flexibility of Guinea Baboons: Implications for Guinea Baboon Social Organization and Male Strategies.- Social Organization, Reproductive Systems, and Meditation of Baboon Endogenous Virus (BaEV) Copy Number in Gelada, Hamadryas and Other Papio Baboons.- Reproduction, Mortality, and Female Reproducitve Success in Chacma Baboons of the Okavango Delta, Botswana.- Maternal Characteristics and Offspring Growth in Chacma Baboons: A Life-History Perspective.- Whose Life is it Anyway? Maternal Investment, Developmental Trajectories and Life History Strategies in Baboons.- Ontogeny, Life History, and Maternal Investment in Baboons.- Testicular Size, Developmental Trajectories and Male Life History Strategies in Four Baboon Taxa.- The Evolutionary Past and the Research Future: Environmental Variation and Life History Flexibility in a Primate Lineage.
From the reviews: "This book is generally successful in its goals, and lives up to its title, by compiling a good amount of recent research on reproductive behavior and life history in baboons, and their impact on reproductive success. While this book will clearly be of interest to graduate students and professionals engaged in social and ecological research on baboons, it would also be of considerable interest to students of evolutionary theory ! ." (Stephen R. Frost, Journal of Mammalian Evolution, Vol. 15, 2008)