Are baboons the best girl dads on Earth?

By Stephen Beech

Daddy day care helps female baboons live longer, according to new research.

Females of the primate species who had strong father-daughter relationships lived two to four years longer than other females, say scientists.

Besides humans, the American research team explained that very few mammals receive care from their fathers.

But when species do, it may benefit their children.

The study by scientists from the University of Notre Dame, found that the strength of early-life father-daughter relationships predicts "meaningful" differences in the survival of female baboons.

The research team evaluated the impact that father baboons may have when they choose to co-reside or interact with their daughters, even though baboon mothers provide all essential care.

The researchers said that, until now, the consequences of early-life paternal relationships for offspring were mostly unknown.

Study corresponding author Professor Elizabeth Archie said: “Male baboons tend to reach their peak reproductive success when they’re young adults.

“But once they’ve had a few kids and their condition declines, they sort of slide into ‘dad mode,’ where they don’t disperse as much and they don’t try as hard to mate.

"Then they have time to invest in and hang out with their kids.”

The research team looked at 216 female baboons and their fathers in the Amboseli ecosystem that spreads across the border of Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa.

They found that about a third of the daughters lived in the same social group as their fathers for three years or more.

The remaining two-thirds had fathers who either left the group or died within their daughter’s first three years of life, according to the findings published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The research team also evaluated the grooming habits of juvenile females with their fathers and other adult males, which speaks to the potential strength of father-daughter and other relationships.

Archie said that grooming, which is used for hygiene and social bonding, could be considered the “human equivalent of sitting down, having a cup of coffee and a good chat.”

The study showed that daughters who had a strong relationship with their fathers, who co-resided with their fathers for three years or more, or both, lived two to four years longer than females who had weak father-daughter relationships.

Archie said: “Early life adversity has a powerful effect on lifespan, so this study suggests that having a dad allows females who have experienced other forms of adversity to recover some of those costs.

“In a lot of mammals, dads have a reputation of not contributing very much to offering care, but we now know that even these seemingly minor contributions that males are making still have really important consequences, at least in baboons.”

The research team also found that father-daughter pairs who lived together for longer had stronger grooming relationships.

But strong relationships between juvenile females and other adult males did not predict adult survival.

The researchers say that could be because male baboons sometimes intervene on behalf of offspring in conflicts, protecting their daughters, and even the mothers, from other group members.

Archie added, “Males seem to sort of expand a child’s social network, as they can be popular members of their social group.

"Lots of baboons are coming up and interacting with the male.

"So an infant who’s hanging out near a male has more diverse social interactions than if they’re only hanging out with mom.

“And dads can create a sort of safety zone for their daughters.”

Although mammal fathers may not provide much, if at all, to their offspring, she believes the study may hold clues regarding the evolutionary roots of parental care in humans.