The study, done after analysing data for 35 years on more than 540 baboons in Amboseli National Park, found that male baboons that have close female friends have higher rates of survival than those who don’t. But the new study points to an additional potential benefit of female friends helping males live a longer life. It is titled Social Bonds, Social Status, and Survival in Wild Baboons: A Tale of Two Sexes. “It means there are lots of gaps in our understanding of male social life,” said senior author Susan Alberts, chair of the Evolutionary Anthropology department at Duke University. We still don’t know; it is one of the most wonderful black boxes in my life,” Alberts said.

Source: Standard Digital September 21, 2020 05:01 UTC