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Multi-Scale Predictors Of Parasite Risk In Wild Male Savanna Baboons (Papio Cynocephalus), Bobby Habig, David A.W.A.M. Jansen, Mercy Y. Akinyi, Laurence R. Gesquiere, Susan C. Alberts, Elizabeth A. Archie

Publications and Research

Several factors are thought to shape male parasite risk in polygynous and polygynandrous mammals, including male-male competition, investment in potentially immunosuppressive hormones, and dispersal. Parasitism is also driven by processes occurring at larger scales, including host social groups and populations. To date, studies that test parasite-related costs of male behavior at all three scales—individual hosts, social groups, and the host population—remain rare. To fill this gap, we investigated multi-scale predictors of helminth parasitism in 97 male savanna baboons (Papio cynocephalus) living in the Amboseli ecosystem in Kenya over a 5-year span. Controlling for multi-scale processes, we found that many of …