The month of May brought a wave of exciting research from the PALEO group. In just two weeks, four scientific papers were published by team members and collaborators, covering everything from baboon travel routes and cultural-like behaviors to chimpanzee wound care and genetic insights into primate dispersal. These studies reflect years of dedicated fieldwork and lab analysis, and together they deepen our understanding of primate behavior, ecology, and evolution—past and present.
🐒West Side Story: Regional Inter‐Troop Variation in Baboon Bark‐Stripping at Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique
Baboons in Gorongosa National Park show intriguing regional differences in a surprising behavior: stripping bark from Acacia trees to eat the sap underneath. This study, spanning over 300 km² and 60 baboon troops, found strong geographic patterns that suggest this foraging behavior may be socially transmitted, raising the possibility of baboon “culture.” The findings may also shed light on how our early ancestors learned to exploit new food sources in changing landscapes.
📖 Read the paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.70057
🧭 The Travelling Salesbaboon: Chacma Baboon Route Efficiency in Multi-Stop Daily Travel Routes
How do baboons decide where to go each day? This study used GPS collars to track chacma baboons in Gorongosa and found that their travel routes between key locations, like food patches, sleep sites, and water, are not random. In fact, their paths were more efficient than simply going to the next closest place, suggesting they plan ahead. But they still didn’t take the absolute shortest route, showing a balance between planning and flexibility. This clever approach offers new insight into primate navigation and cognition, and how they think through space and time.
📖 Read the paper: https://www.mdpi.com/3042-4526/2/2/18
🩹 Self-directed and prosocial wound care, snare removal, and hygiene behaviors amongst the Budongo chimpanzees
Chimpanzees in Uganda’s Budongo Forest aren’t just surviving—they’re caring for themselves and for each other. This study brings together over 30 years of observations and new fieldwork to document both self-care and prosocial behaviors, like treating wounds, removing snares, and even post-mating hygiene. For the first time at Budongo, researchers recorded chimps tending to each other’s injuries using fingers, tongues, and chewed plant matter. The findings add to growing evidence that basic healthcare, and the drive to help others, may have deep evolutionary roots.
📖 Read the paper: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2025.1540922/full
🧬 Sex-mediated Gene Flow in Grayfoot Chacma Baboons in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique
Using genetic data from 121 baboon samples across Gorongosa and the nearby Catapú Forest Reserve, this study looks at how males and females contribute differently to gene flow. The results show that while females tend to stay close to home, males move between groups, spreading genes across the landscape — even in populations shaped by war and predator loss. Despite past disruptions, baboons in this region still maintain high genetic diversity and stable population structure, showing how resilient their dispersal patterns can be in a changing environment.
📖 Read the paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10764-025-00494-2
Together, these four studies showcase the breadth and depth of work emerging from the PALEO group and its collaborators. From cognition and culture to care and connectivity. Each paper reflects the power of long-term fieldwork, cross-disciplinary insight, and deep curiosity about primate lives past and present. Congratulations to Dora Biro & Susana Carvalho, Lynn Lewis-Bevan, Elodie Freymann, and Maria Joana Ferreira da Silva & Felipe Martínez for leading these exceptional contributions to primatology and evolutionary biology. We’re proud to celebrate this remarkable streak of discoveries — and excited for what’s next.