| Description |
1 online resource () |
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text file |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 325-331) and index. |
| Contents |
Preface: Return to Red Rock -- Introduction: The Hamadryas Baboon: A Desert Saint and Lecher -- Ch. 1. The Zoo Baboons -- Ch. 2. On to Ethiopia -- Ch. 3. The One-Sided Marriage -- Ch. 4. Tensions, Conventions, and Alliances among Males -- Ch. 5. Life Histories -- Ch. 6. Experts in a Thorny Land -- Ch. 7. Anatomy of the Social Relationship -- Ch. 8. The Net and the Sword -- Ch. 9. The Eye of the Beholder -- Ch. 10. Mahdi -- Ch. 11. The Likely Evolution of Hamadryas Society: A Reconstruction and a Summary -- Publications by Authors Outside the Hamadryas Project -- Publications on the Hamadryas by the Zurich Group. |
| Summary |
With their furry white mantles and gleaming red hindquarters, the Hamadryas appear frequently in the art of the ancient Egyptians - who may have interpreted the baboons' early morning grooming rituals as sun-worshipping rites. Back then, Hamadryas were thought to be incarnates of Thoth, the god of wisdom; today they are considered to have one of the most highly structured social systems among primates, very close, in some respects, to that of humans. In the 1960s, Kummer, after conflicts with nomadic warriors, managed to track down these elusive baboons near the Danakil Desert, and then followed them from dawn to dusk on their treks from one feeding place to another. His scientific account of this period reads like a travel memoir as he describes his encounters with the Hamadryas and the people with whom they share the desert. |
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Winding his way through cliffs and stubble, Kummer records the baboons' social life, from the development of pair relationships to the way an entire group decides where to march each day. Much like the human nomads who cope with the harsh demands of the desert environment, the Hamadryas maintain a society that is strict and patriarchal in its details but multilayered and flexible in its largest units. We learn, for example, of the Hamadryas' respect for possession that protects family structure and of the cohesion among family leaders that lessens the threat of battle. At the same time, clear-cut personalities emerge from Kummer's account, drawing us into the life stories and power struggles of individual baboons. Whereas this rich detail holds many implications for natural scientists, the colorful way it comes to life makes for a compelling book bound to entertain and educate all readers. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Hamadryas baboon -- Behavior.
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Hamadryas baboon -- Behavior. |
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Social behavior in animals.
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Social behavior in animals. |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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| Other Form: |
Print version: 0691037019 9780691037011 (OCoLC)32310938 |
| ISBN |
1400887410 (electronic book) |
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9781400887415 (electronic book) |
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0691037019 |
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9780691037011 |
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