Baboons of the genus Papio have colonised wide areas of Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula. Traditionally, 5 phenotypically distinct morphotypes (species) are recognised: chacma baboons, yellow baboons, olive baboons, Guinea baboons and hamadryas baboons. We used mitochondrial DNA ("Brown" region) sequence data obtained mainly from faecal samples collected across the geographical range of baboons to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships. Eight well-supported major haplogroups were detected, which reflect geographic populations. These disagree with the traditional classification of baboons into only 5 taxa. We found that West African olive and chacma baboons both comprise at least two deeply separated clades. In the case of chacma baboons, they correspond to recognised morphotypes (Cape chacma and grey-footed chacma). Our data also support a previously suggested distinction between yellow and Kinda baboons from central Zambia. Two other terminal clades from eastern Africa comprise either eastern olive and hamadryas baboons or eastern olive and yellow baboons. Southern yellow baboons cluster with grey-footed chacma baboons. Our data also indicate a possible mitochondrial overlap between Guinea baboons and a particular lineage of western olive baboons from Ivory Coast. These results support recent molecular studies, which detected several para-and polyphyletic mitochondrial clades in Papio, suggesting that the evolutionary history of baboons is even more complicated than previously thought. Thus, important roles might have been played by multiple phases of fragmentation, isolation, hybridisation, introgression, and nuclear swamping, hence, reticulation. These processes were most likely triggered by multiple cycles of expansion and retreat of savannah biomes during late Pliocene and Pleistocene glacial and inter-glacial periods. We also speculate on the likely dispersal pathways of these primates that may have led to their current distribution.
Some chimpanzee populations prey upon army ants, usually with stick tools. However, how their prey's subterranean nesting and nomadic lifestyle influence the apes' harvesting success is still poorly understood. This is particularly true for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti) at Gashaka/Nigeria, which consume army ants (Dorylus rubellus) with much higher frequency than at other sites. We assessed various harvesting and search options theoretically available to the apes. For this, we reconstructed annual consumption patterns from feces and compared the physical characteristics of exploited ant nests with those that were not targeted. Repeated exploitation of a discovered nest is viable only in the short term, as disturbed colonies soon moved to a new site. Moreover, monitoring previously occupied nest cavities is uneconomical, as ants hardly ever re-used them. Thus, the apes have to detect new nests regularly, although colony density is relatively low (1 colony/1.3 ha). Surprisingly, visual search cues seem to be of limited importance because the probability of a nest being exploited was independent of its conspicuousness (presence of excavated soil piles, concealing leaf-litter or vegetation). However, chimpanzees preferentially targeted nests in forests or at the base of food trees, that is, where the apes spend relatively more time and/or where ant colony density is highest. Taken together, our findings suggest that, instead of employing a search strategy based on visual cues or spatial memory, chimpanzee predation on army ants contains a considerable opportunistic element.
We investigated the acquisition of plant materials from which Nigerian chimpanzees manufacture wooden tools to harvest insects and honey from nests of army ants, honey bees and stingless bees. Slender trunks of juvenile trees and branches are most commonly used, and bendable vines rarely, probably reflecting the need to work with relatively sturdy tools to extract resources. While several tools are sometimes sourced from the same plant, there is also evidence for a depletion effect, as multiple tool sources at the same site are often spaced several metres apart. Identified tool sources belong to 27 species of at least 13 families. Honey-gathering implements are often chewed upon by chimpanzees. Interestingly, twigs of the most commonly used honey-gathering species possess antibacterial propensities and are favoured by Nigerians as chewing sticks. This suggests that extractive tools might possess associated medicinal or stimulatory properties. We do not know if chimpanzees actively select specific plant parts or species as we cannot compare observed with expected frequencies. Nevertheless, about three quarters of tools are picked from plants more than 6 m away from the extraction site, potentially indicating some degree of forward planning.
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