A Hand-book to the Primates, Volume 1 (of 2)Forbes, Henry O. (Henry Ogg)
Science
A Hand-book to the Primates, Volume 1 (of 2)
Forbes, Henry O. (Henry Ogg)
Primates
"Baboons often show their passion," as Mr. Darwin has related, "and
threaten their enemies in a very odd manner, namely, by opening their
mouths widely, as in the act of yawning. Mr. Bartlett has often seen two
Baboons, when first placed in the same compartment, sitting opposite to
each other, and then alternately opening their mouths; and this action
seems frequently to end in a real yawn. Mr. Bartlett believes that both
animals wish to show to each other that they are provided with a formidable
set of teeth, as is undoubtedly the case. As I could hardly credit the
reality of this yawning gesture, Mr. Bartlett insulted an old Baboon and
put him into a violent passion; and he almost immediately thus acted....
Baboons likewise show their anger, as was observed by Brehm with those
which he kept alive in Abyssinia, in another manner, namely, by striking
the ground with one hand, 'like an angry man striking the table with his
fist.' I have seen this movement with the Baboons in the Zoological
Gardens; but sometimes the action seems rather to represent the searching
for a stone or other object in their beds of straw.... With several species
of Baboons, the ridge of the forehead projects much over the eyes, and is
studded with a few long hairs, representing our eyebrows. These animals are
always looking about them, and in order to look upwards they raise their
eyebrows. They have thus, as it would appear, acquired the habit of
frequently moving the latter. However this may be, many kinds of Monkeys,
especially the Baboons, when angered, or in any way excited, rapidly and
incessantly move their eyebrows up and down, as well as the hairy skin of
their foreheads."
{258}Baboons are confined to the African continent and to Arabia, to the
region, indeed, termed Ethiopian, as defined by Sclater and Wallace. They
live chiefly on the ground, especially in rocky and barren hills, and less
frequently among trees, for which their equally long front and hind limbs
are not so well adapted. Mr. H. H. Johnson, C.B., now H.M. Commissioner in
Nyasa-land, found, however, on his Kilimanjaro Expedition, that Baboons
were singularly abundant in the big trees at Taveita, on the rise to that
mountain. Their food consists of fruits and Lizards, but principally of
insects, which they search for under stones, turning these over with their
hands. They are, indeed, nearly omnivorous, as the reader will have
gathered from Dr. Holub's observations.
I. THE MANDRILL. PAPIO MAIMON.
_Simia maimon_, Linn., Syst. Nat., p. 35 (1766).
_Simia mormon_, Altstr., Acta. Noem., p. 144, pl. 3 (1766).
_Papio maimon_, Erxl., Syst. Regne Anim., p. 17 (1777); Schl., Mus. Pays
Bas, vii., p. 130 (1876).
_Cynocephalus mormon_, Fr. Cuvier, Hist. Nat. Mammif., pp. 143, 146, pls.
52, 53 (1807).
_Papio mormon_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 104 (1812).
_Mormon maimon_, Gray, Cat. Monkeys, Brit. Mus., p. 36 (1870).
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