Demographic, behavioral, and ecological data from a long-term field study of wild baboons in Amboseli, Kenya
Long-term data sets on individually recognized animals and their environments are critical to understanding animal behavior, evolution, and ecology. However, they are resource- and time-intensive and seldom made publicly available. The Amboseli Baboon Research Project (ABRP) is one of the longest-running studies of a wild mammal population in the world and has collected extensive data on the baboon population of the Amboseli ecosystem in Kenya since 1971. Here, we describe four ABRP data sets newly available to the evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, and primatology communities: (1) the sizes and demographic compositions of 21 social groups from 1971-2023; (2) the activity budgets of adult females and immatures from 1984-2023; (3) behavioral data on diet for adult females and immatures from 1984-2023; and (4) weather data, including precipitation from 1976-2023 and temperature from 1976-2022. Data are aggregated annually and monthly to enable cross-data set analyses. These data offer a rare longitudinal perspective on behavioral and ecological change in a wild mammal population.
Authors
- Laurence R. Gesquiere (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7721-526X)
- Reena Debray (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8130-4871)
- Iker Rivas-González (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0515-0628)
- Mimi Arandjelovic (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8920-9684)
- Emily M. McLean (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3013-999X)
- Catherine Andreadis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5313-135X)
- Mary Chege (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6545-9205)
- William Wilber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6332-0197)
- Shasta E. Webb (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9329-2553)
- Elizabeth George (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1223-5857)
- Ipek G. Kulahci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0104-0365)
- Jack C. Winans (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5658-0011)
- Chelsea A. Southworth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4713-4279)
- Niki H. Learn
- Pamela Ferretti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1707-9013)
- Beniamino Tuliozi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5656-4858)
- Carly C. Dickson
- Jenny Tung
- Lee Nonnamaker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4928-5302)
- Carmen M. Cromer
- Leif Hey
- Gretchen Andreasen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6746-3918)
- Susan C. Alberts
- C. Ryan Campbell
- Maria J. A. Creighton
- Shuyu He
- Emily E. Jefferson
- Jacob B. Gordon
Institutions
- University of Notre Dame (US)
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CA)
- University of Nairobi (KE)
- University of Calgary (CA)
- Duke University (US)
- University of Konstanz (DE)
- Princeton University (US)
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE)
- University of Florida (US)
- University of Chicago (US)
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (US)
- Institute of Primate Research (KE)
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (DE)
- Stony Brook University (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Leipzig University (DE)
- HTWG Hochschule Konstanz - Technik, Wirtschaft und Gestaltung (DE)
- Gannon University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Data
- Published
- 2026-03-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-06741-2
- Primary Topic
- Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Princeton University
- University of Notre Dame
- National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation
- Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
- National Institutes of Health