News Release 11-142
Pity the Boss Man
Researchers find that being at the top may come at a high cost
July 14, 2011
View a video with Princeton ecologist Laurence Gesquiere.
This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.
Ecologists at Princeton University recently discovered top-ranking male baboons exhibit higher levels of stress hormones than second-ranking males, suggesting that being at the top of a social hierarchy may be more costly than previously thought.
By studying baboon groups in Kenya, the researchers, for the first time, identified higher levels of stress hormones, or glucocoricoids, in alpha males as compared to beta males.
"These results are very interesting because they provide insights into complex societies and have potential applications to human behavior and societal structures," says Kaye Reed, program director for physical anthropology at the National Science Foundation which funded the study.
The study's results are in the July 15 issue of the journal Science.
For more information on levels of stress hormones, testosterone in male baboons and the costs of high social rank, see Princeton's press release.
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View Video
Laurence Gesquiere explains how higher social ranks in baboons can come at a price.
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An adult male mate-guarding a fertile female (note the sexual swelling) during a sexual consortship.
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Two adult male baboons fighting at very close range.
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The researchers' work is described in the July 15, 2011 issue of the journal Science.
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Media Contacts
Dana Wilson, National Science Foundation, (703) 292-8125, email: dmwilson@nsf.gov
Martin Mbugua, Princeton University, (609) 258-5733, email: mmbugua@princeton.edu
Program Contacts
Kaye Reed, National Science Foundation, (703) 292-7850, email: kreed@nsf.gov
Co-Investigators
Laurence Gesquiere, Princeton University, email: lgesquie@princeton.edu
Jeanne Altmann, Princeton University, email: altj@princeton.edu
Susan Alberts, Duke University, email: alberts@duke.edu
Related Websites
Amboseli Baboon Research Project: http://www.princeton.edu/~baboon/
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