Taxonomy and Phylogeny
Five species of Papio are commonly recognized, although there is some disagreement about whether they are really full species or subspecies. They are P. ursinus (chacma baboon, found in southern Africa), P. papio (western, red, or Guinea baboon, found in the far western Africa), P. hamadryas (hamadryas baboon, found in the Horn of Africa and southwestern Arabia), P. anubis (olive baboon, found in the north-central African savanna) and P. cynocephalus (yellow baboon, found in south-central and eastern Africa). Many authors distinguish P. hamadryas as a full species, but regard all the others as subspecies of P. cynocephalus and refer to them collectively as "savanna baboons". This may not be helpful: it is based on the argument that the hamadryas baboon is behaviorally and physically distinct from other baboon species, and that this reflects a separate evolutionary history. However, recent morphological and genetic studies of Papio show the hamadryas baboon to be more closely related to the northern baboon species (the Guinea and olive baboons) than to the southern species (the yellow and chacma baboons).
The traditional five-form classification probably under-represents the variation within Papio. Some commentators argue that at least two more forms should be recognized, including the tiny Kinda baboon (P. cynocephalus kindae) from Zambia, DR Congo, and Angola, and the gray-footed baboon (P. ursinus griseipes) found in Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and northern South Africa. However, current knowledge of the morphological, genetic, and behavioral diversity within Papio is too poor to make any final, comprehensive judgment on this matter.
The five species of baboons in the genus Papio are:
- Genus Papio
- Hamadryas baboon, Papio hamadryas
- Guinea baboon, Papio papio
- Olive baboon, Papio anubis
- Yellow baboon, Papio cynocephalus
- Central yellow baboon, Papio cynocephalus cynocephalus
- Ibean baboon, Papio cynocephalus ibeanus
- Kinda baboon, Papio cynocephalus kindae
- Chacma baboon, Papio ursinus
- Cape chacma, Papio ursinus ursinus
- Gray-footed chacma, Papio ursinus griseipes
- Ruacana chacma, Papio ursinus raucana
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