Being Top Baboon is a Hard Life

Alex

It ain't easy bein' top dog. Or, for that matter, top monkey. Sure your underlings would pay to gaze at your pictures, but being alpha baboons come at a high price:

A new study, "Life at the Top: Rank and Stress in Wild Male Baboons," published in the July 15 issue of the journal Science found that in wild baboon populations, the highest-ranking, or alpha, males have higher stress-hormone levels than the highly ranked males below them, known as beta males -- even during periods of stability. The findings have implications in the study of social hierarchies and of the impact of social dominance on health and well-being, a subject of interest among researchers who study human and other animal populations.

Link (Photo: Jeanne Altmann)


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