Papio cynocephalus

(Linnaeus, 1766)

Yellow Baboon

Figure 1. Photograph by B. Stanley.

Figure 2. FMNH 159986. Photograph by R. Banasiak.

Type Description:

Linnaeus, C. 1766-1768. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis synonymis, locis. Vol. 1. Regnum Animale. pt. 1, pp. 1-532 [1766]; vol. 3, Appendix pp. 223-235 [1768]. 12th ed. [Vol. 3, Regnum Lapideum, pp. 1-222, rejected for nomenclatural purposes, ICZN, opinion 296]. Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm, 3 vols.

Type Locality:

Kenya, inland from Mombasa.

Measurements:

Head and body: 508-1143 mm

Tail length: 456-711 mm

Weight: 11-50 kg

Distribution:

Distributed from Angola to Mozambique and Tanzania and up into Somalia, Papio cynocephalus is found in a variety of habitats including woodland, dry bushland, thickets, steppes, and coastal littorals. (Kingdon, 1984, 1997)

Key Reference:

1. Kingdon, J. 1984. East African mammals: An atlas of evolution in Africa. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1:177.
2. Kingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon field guide to African mammals, AP Natural World Academic Press, Harcourt Brace & Company, San Diego, p. 33-36.
3. Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World. Sixth ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1:569, 588-590.