Tail Carriage in Baboons (Papio cynocephalus): Relationship to Dominance Rank and Age

Abstract

Several metric and categorical variables were used to assess tail carriage in 717 photographs of 54 yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) of known identity, sex, dominance rank, and estimated or known age. Analyses of these data demonstrated that age was the primary factor, influencing tail carriage of baboons not engaged in social interaction. Specifically, the proximal segment of the tail was carried increasingly close to the vertical with increasing age; other changes in tail angles and segment curvature were also correlated with age. There was no relationship between dominance rank and neutral tail carriage in adult male or adult female baboons, nor was the neutral tail carriage of the first-ranking male or female either distinctive or characteristic. The morphological basis of ontogenetic changes in neutral tail carriage in baboons is also discussed.