Browsing by Author "Lüdecke, Tina"

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    Genomic variation in baboons from central Mozambique unveils complex evolutionary relationships with other Papio species
    (2022) Santander, Cindy; Molinaro, Ludovica; Mutti, Giacomo; Martínez, Felipe I.; Mathe, Jacinto; Ferreira da Silva, Maria J.; Caldon, Matteo; Oteo-Garcia, Gonzalo; Aldeias, Vera; Archer, Will; Bamford, Marion; Biro, Dora; Bobe, René; Braun, David R.; Hammond, Philippa; Lüdecke, Tina; Pinto, Maria J.; Meira Paulo, Luis; Stalmans, Marc; Regala, Frederico T.; Bertolini, Francesco; Moltke, Ida; Raveane, Alessandro; Pagani, Luca; Carvalho, Susana; Capelli, Cristian
    Background: Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique hosts a large population of baboons, numbering over 200 troops. Gorongosa baboons have been tentatively identified as part of Papio ursinus on the basis of previous limited morphological analysis and a handful of mitochondrial DNA sequences. However, a recent morphological and morphometric analysis of Gorongosa baboons pinpointed the occurrence of several traits intermediate between P. ursinus and P. cynocephalus, leaving open the possibility of past and/or ongoing gene flow in the baboon population of Gorongosa National Park. In order to investigate the evolutionary history of baboons in Gorongosa, we generated high and low coverage whole genome sequence data of Gorongosa baboons and compared it to available Papio genomes. Results: We confirmed that P. ursinus is the species closest to Gorongosa baboons. However, the Gorongosa baboon genomes share more derived alleles with P. cynocephalus than P. ursinus does, but no recent gene flow between P. ursinus and P. cynocephalus was detected when available Papio genomes were analyzed. Our results, based on the analysis of autosomal, mitochondrial and Y chromosome data, suggest complex, possibly male-biased, gene flow between Gorongosa baboons and P. cynocephalus, hinting to direct or indirect contributions from baboons belonging to the “northern” Papio clade, and signal the presence of population structure within P. ursinus. Conclusions: The analysis of genome data generated from baboon samples collected in central Mozambique highlighted a complex set of evolutionary relationships with other baboons. Our results provided new insights in the population dynamics that have shaped baboon diversity.
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    Gorongosa by the sea: First Miocene fossil sites from the Urema Rift, central Mozambique, and their coastal paleoenvironmental and paleoecological contexts
    (2019) Habermann, Jörg M.; Alberti, Matthias; Aldeias,Vera; Alemseged, Zeresenay; Archer, Will; Bamford, Marion; Biro, Dora; Braun, David R.; Capelli, Cristian; Cunha, Eugénia; Silva Ferreira, Maria da; Lüdecke, Tina; Madiquida, Hilário; Martínez, Felipe I.; Mathe, Jacinto; Negash, Enquye; Paulo, Luis M.; Pinto, Maria; Stalmans, Marc; Regala, Federico Tátá; Wynn, Jonathan G.; Bobe, René; Carvalho, Susana
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    West Side Story: Regional Inter‐Troop Variation in Baboon Bark‐Stripping at Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique
    (2025) Biro, Dora; Muschinski, Jana; Hammond, Philippa; Bobe, René; Bamford, Marion K.; Capelli, Cristian; D’Oliveira Coelho, João; Farassi, Rassina; Lüdecke, Tina; Martínez Latrach, Felipe; Mathe, Jacinto; Ferreira Silva, Maria Joana; Carvalho, Susana
    Objectives: Baboons possess sophisticated physical and social cognitive abilities; hence, the lack of evidence to date of large-scale behavioral variation in these primates is puzzling. Here we studied a candidate for such variation-the stripping of bark from Acacia robusta trees for consumption of the sap and soft tissue underneath-in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique.Materials and methods: We surveyed an area inhabited by ~60 troops of chacma baboons, recording the availability and characteristics of the target trees, as well as the presence or absence of bark-stripping at 45 habitat plots distributed across a grid covering an area of ~300 km2.Results: Camera traps confirmed the presence of baboons at all habitat plots, and we identified regional clumping in the distribution of the behavior, a pattern consistent across two consecutive years. Proportion and mean height/width of A. robusta did not predict whether bark-stripping behavior was present at a given site, nor did broader ecological variables such as habitat type and distance to the nearest water source. However, stripping sites had significantly higher numbers of A. robusta than non-stripping sites, and within a given bark-stripping site, baboons preferred to strip taller and wider trees among those available.Discussion: The prominent geographical clustering we uncovered may have been driven by opportunity (i.e., the prevalence of A. robusta at a given site), but is also consistent with a possible (non-mutually exclusive) cultural interpretation. We propose avenues for future research on Gorongosa's baboons to better quantify the relative contributions of ecology, genetics, and social learning to the prevalence of bark stripping. We also briefly consider the potential relevance of baboon bark stripping to elucidating early hominin foraging strategies.