---
title: "What the sources say about the Hamadryas Baboon | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "55 claims from the Hamadryas Baboon profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Hamadryas Baboon (*Papio hamadryas*)

> 55 claims from the Hamadryas Baboon profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Hamadryas Baboon](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/hamadryas-baboon/)

## Papio hamadryas (hamadryas baboon). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Papio_hamadryas/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The basic unit is the one-male unit, or OMU | The basic unit of social organization is the OMU, or one male unit |
| a central male, the leader, who aggressively herds and controls one to nine females and their offspring | a central male, the leader, aggressively herds and controls from one to nine females and their offspring |
| the males in a clan are thought to be close genetic relatives | The males found in a clan are thought to be close genetic relatives of one another |
| Clans combine into bands | Two or three clans form a single band |
| at night several bands may gather on the same sleeping cliff as a troop | Troops of hamadryas baboons may contain several bands. Troops are aggregations of baboons which utilize the same sleeping cliffs or rocks |
| A Leader Male Rules by Force | the leader male aggressively herds females |
| A hamadryas leader keeps his females by herding them | the leader male aggressively herds females, keeping them from straggling during the foraging march |
| He stops them straggling on the foraging march, prevents them from socializing with other males, and chases, bites or otherwise punishes any female who appears to be straying | keeping them from straggling during the foraging march, and preventing them from socializing with other males ... chasing, biting, or otherwise punishing females who appear to be straying |
| A leader can lose his whole harem to another male in what researchers call a takeover | the principle goal of followers seems to be to either steal females from the OMU leader, having become familiar to these females through association with the OMU, or to depose the OMU leader and commandeer his entire harem of females (note: 'takeover' is the field's own term, used throughout contexts-2017 and fourth-2009, cited in the next sentences) |
| Hamadryas baboons live across the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea) and the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia and Yemen) | Papio hamadryas is found on the African continent in the area of the southern Red Sea, in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea ... This species also occurs in the Palearctic region, in Saudi Arabia and Yemen |
| Their turf is subdesert, steppe, plains and shortgrass savanna, and their range is limited by where they can find a water hole and rocks or cliffs to sleep on | Hamadryas baboons are found in subdesert, steppe, alpine grass meadows, plains, and shortgrass savannahs. Their distribution is limited by the availability of watering holes and appropriate sleeping rocks or cliffs |
| one explanation for the cliff-sleeping habit is that it inhibits predators from reaching the animals | On explanation for this sleeping arrangement is that it inhibits access of predators to the animals (note: 'On explanation' is a typo in ADW's own page text, quoted verbatim; the profile's prose corrects it to 'one explanation') |
| Subdesert, steppe, plains and shortgrass savanna with sleeping cliffs and a water hole nearby, across the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula | Hamadryas baboons are found in subdesert, steppe, alpine grass meadows, plains, and shortgrass savannahs. Their distribution is limited by the availability of watering holes and appropriate sleeping rocks or cliffs |
| Most of the social grooming inside a one-male unit is aimed at the leader male, with females working on his mane, face and backside | Most social grooming within the OMU is focused on the leader male, with females grooming him, especially his mane, face, and buttocks |
| It seems to be part of how a male attracts and keeps his females | The pelage characters of males can therefore be thought of as strong mate attractants, and seem to function in the maintenance of the OMU |
| researchers think a male's coat features act as strong mate attractants that seem to help hold the unit together | The pelage characters of males can therefore be thought of as strong mate attractants, and seem to function in the maintenance of the OMU |
| dangerLevel: High | They are large animals which can be aggressive when confronted. Negative Impacts injures humans bites or stings (note: task #506; 'aggressive when confronted' is the High tier, 'Dangerous when cornered or provoked'. No cached source reports a human death, so not Deadly) |
| tags: mountains | Their distribution is limited by the availability of watering holes and appropriate sleeping rocks or cliffs (note: task #506; ADW also lists 'alpine grass meadows' among its habitats and 'mountains' among its terrestrial biomes; the tag's definition names sheer vertical cliffs) |
| at night several bands may gather on the same sleeping cliff as a troop | Troops of hamadryas baboons may contain several bands. Troops are aggregations of baboons which utilize the same sleeping cliffs or rocks (note: vibe.reason (#692/#693)) |

## Hamadryas Baboon. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/hamadryas-baboon

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| which can run to several hundred baboons | can live in troops of several hundred individuals |
| Adult males weigh 18 to 20 kilograms | Weight: Adult female, 20 to 25 pounds (9 to 11 kilograms); adult male, 40 to 45 pounds (18 to 20 kilograms) |
| roughly twice an adult female's 9 to 11 kilograms | Weight: Adult female, 20 to 25 pounds (9 to 11 kilograms); adult male, 40 to 45 pounds (18 to 20 kilograms) (note: 'roughly twice' is a direct ratio of the two figures the source gives) |
| grow a mantle of long silvery hair plus a bright pink face and backside | the male hamadryas baboon has a distinctive mantle (mane) of long silvery hair and a bright pink face and backside |
| Females have no mantle, and their faces are black and brown | While the females have hairless black and brown faces, the male hamadryas baboon has a distinctive mantle (mane) of long silvery hair (note: the current SDZ page is preferred over ADW's older 'plain olive-brown' coat and 'muted, grayish-brown face') |
| Sitting upright, an adult male measures 49 to 64 centimeters tall and an adult female 49 to 54 | Height (sitting): Adult female, 1.6 to 1.8 feet (.49 to .54 meters); adult male, 1.6 to 2.1 feet (.49 to .64 meters) (note: centimeters from the source's meters (.49 to .64 m, .49 to .54 m)) |
| A hamadryas baboon lives about 20 years in the wild and 31 in expert care | 20 years in the wilderness; 31 years in expert care (note: the current SDZ page is preferred over ADW's 2004 Max Planck figures; 'up to 31' was cut in the final pass because SDZ gives 31 as the lifespan in care, not a maximum, and ADW records a 37.6-year captive maximum) |
| Cliffs, Cactus Fruit and Acacia Pods | both populations primarily eat grass seeds, roots, berries, and the flowers, leaves, and pods of acacia trees. Baboon populations in Arabia commonly eat cactus fruit and palm nuts, as well |
| no other kind of baboon lives as far north | no other kind of baboon resides as far north as hamadryas baboons |
| Plant matter makes up the majority of the diet: grass seeds, roots, and acacia leaves, flowers and pods, plus, in Arabia, cactus fruit and palm nuts | the majority of its diet consists of plant matter ... both populations primarily eat grass seeds, roots, berries, and the flowers, leaves, and pods of acacia trees. Baboon populations in Arabia commonly eat cactus fruit and palm nuts, as well |
| Bird eggs, carrion, small mammals and occasional insects like locusts make up a small portion | Non-plant food sources make up a small portion of their diet and include bird eggs, carrion, small mammals, and occasionally insects like locusts |
| Living in dry country, these baboons can survive on low-quality food for long stretches | Since most baboons live in arid environments, they are able to survive on low-quality diets for long periods of time in their native habitat |
| They can fall prey to leopards, hyenas and Verreaux's eagles | Hamadryas baboons can fall prey to leopards, hyenas, and Verreaux's eagles |
| Sacred to a God of Learning | Ancient Egyptians believed that hamadryas baboons were sacred to Thoth, the god of learning |
| Ancient Egyptians believed hamadryas baboons were sacred to Thoth, the god of learning | Ancient Egyptians believed that hamadryas baboons were sacred to Thoth, the god of learning |
| the species is still referred to as the Sacred Baboon | hamadryas baboons are also referred to as Sacred Baboons |
| Hamadryas baboons are now extinct in Egypt, though large populations remain in Ethiopia, Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Yemen | Though currently extinct in Egypt, these monkeys can be found in large populations in Ethiopia, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen |
| Sacred Enough to Mummify | Hamadryas baboons were so highly regarded in ancient times that some were mummified after death |
| Hamadryas baboons were so highly regarded in ancient times that some were mummified after death | Hamadryas baboons were so highly regarded in ancient times that some were mummified after death |
| Silver-maned sacred baboon of ancient Egypt | Ancient Egyptians believed that hamadryas baboons were sacred to Thoth, the god of learning |
| troops hundreds strong | can live in troops of several hundred individuals |
| Mostly acacia leaves, flowers and pods, grass seeds and roots, and cactus fruit and palm nuts in Arabia, with a small share of bird eggs, carrion, small mammals and occasional insects like locusts | both populations primarily eat grass seeds, roots, berries, and the flowers, leaves, and pods of acacia trees. Baboon populations in Arabia commonly eat cactus fruit and palm nuts, as well. Non-plant food sources make up a small portion of their diet and include bird eggs, carrion, small mammals, and occasionally insects like locusts |
| They held the animals in high enough regard that some hamadryas baboons were mummified after death | Hamadryas baboons were so highly regarded in ancient times that some were mummified after death |
| tags: omnivore | Non-plant food sources make up a small portion of their diet and include bird eggs, carrion, small mammals, and occasionally insects like locusts (note: task #506; replaces insectivore: SDZ says 'the majority of its diet consists of plant matter') |
| that can run to several hundred baboons | can live in troops of several hundred individuals (note: vibe.reason (#692/#693)) |

## Gippoliti (2019). Papio hamadryas. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T16019A17953082.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2019-3.rlts.t16019a17953082.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | Least Concern (note: read through GBIF's copy of the Red List per docs/fact-check.md; category verifies by script. ADW's body text still says 'lower risk/near threatened' and is out of date) |

## Schreier & Swedell (2009). The fourth level of social structure in a multi‐level society: ecological and social functions of clans in hamadryas baboons. American Journal of Primatology.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.20736

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In one closely studied Ethiopian band, the clans held between seven and 13 of these family units | results of cluster analyses indicated that in each of the two observation periods this band comprised two large clans ranging in size from 7 to 13 OMUs (note: one band of about 200 baboons at Filoha, lowland Ethiopia; scoped to that band, not stated as universal) |

## Amann, Pines & Swedell (2017). Contexts and consequences of takeovers in hamadryas baboons: Female parity, reproductive state, and observational evidence of pregnancy loss. American Journal of Primatology.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22649

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Infants caught up in one are at least four times more likely to be killed, or otherwise die, than at other times | infants involved in such takeovers are at least four times more likely to be killed (or otherwise die) after takeovers compared to other times |
| Researchers watching one wild population at Filoha, in Ethiopia, recorded 162 takeovers over 20 years | Our data set consists of 162 takeovers over a period of 20 years in a population of wild hamadryas baboons at Filoha, Ethiopia |

## Grueter, Chapais & Zinner (2012). Evolution of Multilevel Social Systems in Nonhuman Primates and Humans. International Journal of Primatology.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-012-9618-z

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Four Levels of Society, Stacked on Top of Each Other | The hamadryas society is characterized by a hierarchical construction of social units: OMUs, clans, bands, and troops |
| Researchers call this a multilevel society, and among primates the same pattern has been described in snub-nosed monkeys, proboscis monkeys, geladas and humans | the primate species whose social systems have been described as multilevel include several colobine, most notably snub-nosed monkeys ... proboscis monkeys ... and the papionin species hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) and geladas (Theropithecus gelada) as well as humans (note: the source lists the species and the page repeats the list, adding no rank; Grueter et al. elsewhere call multilevel societies 'prevalent in three primate clades', so no 'rare' claim is made) |
| Several OMUs cluster into a clan | Clans comprise several (male)-bonded and probably male-related OMUs |
| harems that stack into clans, bands and troops | The hamadryas society is characterized by a hierarchical construction of social units: OMUs, clans, bands, and troops |
| A four-level society, from one-male harem units up through clans and bands to troops of several hundred that share one sleeping cliff | The hamadryas society is characterized by a hierarchical construction of social units: OMUs, clans, bands, and troops (note: troop size and the shared sleeping cliff are claimed separately in the body, from sdz-hamadryas and adw-hamadryas) |
| Hamadryas society is built from one-male units at the bottom, which combine into clans, which combine into bands, which combine into troops at the top | The hamadryas society is characterized by a hierarchical construction of social units: OMUs, clans, bands, and troops |
| one-male units cluster into clans, clans into bands | The hamadryas society is characterized by a hierarchical construction of social units: OMUs, clans, bands, and troops (note: vibe.reason (#692/#693)) |