By: Zachary Frament, Frederick Kalisz, Griffin Lyons, and Alexia Zambarano (Stonehill College, BIO323: Evolution, Spring 2019)
In this article, researchers wanted to conduct an extensive analysis of the evolutionary history of the genus Papio, the baboons, and its six species. The researchers wanted to explore the genetic relationships among the six extant species: Olive baboon (P. anubis), Yellow baboon (P. cynocephalus), Kinda baboon (P. kindae), Hamadryas baboon (P. hamadryas), Chacma baboon (P. ursinus), and Guinea baboon (P. papio). Each of the species differs morphologically and behaviorally, and they occupy completely different geographical areas in Africa. Although the ranges that the six different species reside in do not overlap, researchers were able to find that the baboon lineages were experiencing hybridization and interbreeding in recent and past times. Some of the ranges are particularly close to each other, nearly overlapping, yet these six different species do not resemble each other morphologically or behaviorally.
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