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Drawing on 36 years of data, a new study of 199 baboons in southern Kenya finds that adversity early in life can take years off the lifespan, but strong social bonds with other baboons in adulthood can help get them back. Baboons who formed stronger social bonds measured as how often they groomed with their closest friends added 2.2 years to their lives, no matter what hardships they faced when they were younger.
DURHAM, N.C. Finding love in a small isolated place can be tough when everyone is a familiar face, or when half the dating pool is already out because they’re all close relatives. That’s no less true for the wild baboons of Amboseli, who live in close-knit groups of 20 to 150 at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya.
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IMAGE: Male baboons maintain their pecking order in the troop with physical displays of aggression. A new study shows that the guys at the top will age faster as a result. view more
Credit: Elizabeth Archie
DURHAM, N.C. Some guys have it all: the muscle, the power, the high social status, the accelerated aging.
But wait. Faster aging? Who wants that? For male baboons, it s the price they pay to be at the top.
New research appearing April 6 in
eLife by Jenny Tung, associate professor of evolutionary anthropology and biology at Duke University, and her colleagues shows that male baboons that climb the social ladder age faster than males with lower social standing. If a male drops in social status, his estimated rate of aging drops as well.