Research shows that humans and monkeys have much in common.
Research has repeatedly emphasized that male friendship is not as common in the animal kingdom due to competition among males. However, among Guinea baboons, such friendships exist and are stronger than in many other mammals. These primates help each other in enhancing their status in the social hierarchy and protect their partners from other monkeys.
Nevertheless, baboons with many friends begin to spend significantly less time with them when females and offspring enter their lives. They adapt their social habits for successful reproductive functioning.
Social Bonds
Guinea baboons live in a multi-tiered society where males maintain strong connections with each other and lack a clear hierarchy. Females freely choose sexual partners, staying with the same male for several weeks to several years.
“We do not yet know whether male friendship contributes to attracting females at an earlier stage or helps maintain the status of a reproductively active male,” noted senior study author Julia Fischer. “To answer this question, we will need many more years of observation,” she added.
