| dc.description.abstract | Interactions
between
infants
and
adult
males
were
observed
for
one
year
in
a
group
of
yellow
baboons
in
Amboseli
National
Park.
Adult
males
spent
a
larger
proportion
of
their
time
in
proximity,
in
contact,
and
connected
<i.e.,
carrying,
embracing,
holding,
etc.)
with
infants
if
the
male
was
involved
in
an
agonistic
interaction
w
i
th
another
adult
male
than
if
not.
This
was
due
to
the
higher
frequency
with
which
both
infants
and
males
approached,
contacted,
and
connected
with
one
another
during
inter-male
conflicts,
and
to
the
fact
that
for
both
infants
and
adult
males
the
proportion
of
their
spatial
transitions
that
increased
spatial
intimacy
was
higher
during
male-male
contests.
When
males
were
connected
with
an
infant,
they
initiated
agonistic
interactions
at
a
higher
frequency
and
initiated
a
larger
proportion
of
their
agonistic
interactions
than
when
they
were
not.
This
was
overwhelmingly
due
to
the
activity
of
the
subordinate
males.
In
spite
of
infants
being
used
in
fights
disproportionately
often
when
the
expected
level
of
aggression
was
particularly
high,
and
agonistic
interactions
in
which
infants
were
used
being
two
to
three
times
as
long
as
others,
the
proportion
of
encounters
in
which
a
male
received
aggression
was
not
any
higher
when
he
was
connected
with
an
infant
than
when
he
was
not.
In
fact,
when
the
subordinate
male
was
connected
with
an
infant
during
a
male-male
conflict,
the
dominant
male
was
much
more
likely
to
be
the
first
to
retreat
than
otherwise.
This
effect
was
nearly
identical
to
the
effect
of
the
subordinate
male
displaying
signs
of
submission.
There
was
additionally
some
indication
that
infant
involvement
decreases
the
incidence
of
wounding.
There
were
no
clear
gender
differences
in
infant
participation
in
male-male
agonistic
interactions,
but
younger
infants
were
used
more
often
than
expected
on
the
basis
of
their
availability.
Infants
were
carried
by
their
potential
fathers
34%
of
the
time
and
by
males
absent
at
the
time
the
infant
was
conceived
15%.
Infants
were
carried
against
their
potential
fathers
35%
of
the
time
and
against
a
male
absent
at
the
time
of
conception
31%.
While
a
male
was
fighting,
about
half
of
his
interactions
with
infants
were
initiated
by
the
infant.
Infants
and
their
mothers
rarely
showed
distress
during
such
interactions,
and
males
did
not
carry
resisting
infants.
A
specialized
communication
system
seemed
to
develop
between
infants
and
adult
males
in
which
the
male
grunted
to
the
infant
during
male-male
tension
and
the
infant
ran
to
the
male
emitting
stereotyped,
stylized
geckering
vocalizations.
Infants
apparently
benefit
from
their
participation
as
agonistic
buffers
through
long-term,
reciprocal | |
| dc.description.department | a
Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi, ; bDepartment of Mental Health, School of Medicine,
Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya | |
