For alpha male baboons, being a feminine man comes at a price.

An alpha male baboon closely monitors a fertile female in southern Kenya’s Amboseli Basin. Credit: Susan Alberts, Duke University
When you think of the type of alpha male, several things come to mind. They are the ones who have the decision-making power to grab all the girls. But, at least in the case of baboons, the mighty and powerful alpha stud also has its drawbacks.
Research shows that despite their high status, the number one male in baboon society is the most stressed group, as shown by higher levels of glucocorticoids, hormones involved in the fight-or-flight response. There is also.
But the stress load on leaders comes from a surprising source. A new study reveals that it’s not time competing with other males that increases stress hormone levels. Instead, it’s the effort they put into their peers.
That’s according to a new study of wild baboons in Kenya led by Duke University professor Susan Alberts, Stony Brook University’s Catherine Markham, and Duke University senior researcher Laurence Ghesquière.
The findings will be published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
As anyone who has climbed the career ladder knows, leaders can face a variety of sources of stress, including office politics, difficult decisions, and constant pressure to perform.
Alpha male baboons may not have deadlines to meet, but that doesn’t mean their lives are stress-free, the researchers said.
To reach the top spot and stay there, male baboons must rely on their strength and fighting skills to gain position. Dominant males in a group fiercely protect their mating rights, closely monitoring breeding females and following them for days at a time to ensure that they are the ones to produce offspring. Masu.
Since 1971, researchers have monitored wild baboons in southern Kenya almost daily as part of the Amboseli Baboon Research Project, carefully tracking their social interactions and other behaviors throughout their lives.
One of the first hints that the top spot might pose a distinct challenge for men came from a study published in 2011 by Gesquiere et al., which revealed a striking pattern. It has become. That is, glucocorticoid levels were significantly higher in alpha males compared to non-leaders.
When stress begins, the brain releases these and other hormones to mobilize energy to help the body cope with difficult situations.
In humans, “this response is activated to all kinds of difficulties we face: being late for a meeting and rushing, running a marathon, a stressful meeting with your boss.” such as when participating in a program,” Alberts said.
However, it was unclear what exactly caused the baboons’ stress response.
In the new study, researchers combined 14 years of behavioral records from 204 male baboons with data on stress hormones measured in the feces left behind by the animals.


A male baboon closely follows its mate. Credit: Courtney Fitzpatrick, Texas A&M University
This result once again shows that life at the top is tough. Alpha males had glucocorticoid levels 6% higher than other ranks.
But researchers also discovered new clues. Men at the top also have lower levels of a thyroid hormone called T3, indicating they burn more calories than they take in.
“Being alpha actually affects your energy,” Ghesquière said.
New research suggests it’s not an alpha male’s aggressive behavior — the time he spends fighting and letting everyone know he’s the boss — that is straining his energy reserves. I am doing it.
No matter how often alpha males threatened, bullied, or pushed other males, their stress and thyroid hormones were unaffected.
“That was a big surprise,” Ghesquière said.
Their flare-ups with other males may be too subtle or short-lived to reach them, Alberts explained.
Alternatively, once they reach the top, alpha males may no longer need to be overtly aggressive to prove themselves. Alphas can scare other males away with just a raised eyebrow or flash of their fangs.
Instead, the researchers found that alpha male baboons’ biggest source of energy drain and stress is, you guessed it, their mates. Their stress hormones and thyroid hormones (indicators of energy demand) were both directly correlated with the amount of time they spent monopolizing fertile females.
“They are essentially asserting their rights and preventing other males from accessing them,” Alberts said.
Research shows that this attentiveness fragments their time and attention. It becomes difficult to concentrate on finding your next meal.
“They’re constantly being interrupted,” Alberts said. The female begins to dig out or pry open the tasty morsel, “but then she gets up and walks away, so she has to give it up.”
Over time, the demands of being a leading man can be detrimental to your health. Previous studies of Amboseli baboons have found that males with higher ranks, as measured by chemical changes in their DNA, age faster and live shorter lives than males with lower social status.
The effects on humans are less clear-cut, Ghesquière said, because the human hierarchy is more complex. We belong to multiple communities throughout our lives, each with its own social dynamics. For example, someone who is great in the office can be a top player on the pickleball court.
But for dominant male baboons, “stress definitely has long-term effects,” Ghesquière says.
Further information: Laurence R. Gesquiere et al., The energetic costs of social dominance in wild male baboons, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.1790
Provided by Duke University
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