Why Compare Early Hominins to Baboons?

In some circumstances, perspectives from baboon ecology and behavior can augment the interpretation of paleoanthropological data. The baboon information can also suggest hypotheses about early hominins where direct evidence is meager or lacking. This is particularly true for early periods of hominin evolution where fossils are sparse and there is no archeological record. Environment is the most direct and strongest reason for comparing hominins with baboons. Both taxa expanded across a wide geographic distribution and survived in similarly diverse habitats. They also experienced long-term aridification in large parts of Africa. Early hominins were comparable to baboons in having arboreal capabilities, but both taxa evolved to spend most of their daylight time on the ground. Though somewhat larger than extant baboons, hominins were broadly similar to them in being medium-sized mammals with a significant degree of sexual dimorphism. These physical features had both ecological and social consequences. These points of comparison make baboons more relevant to understanding early hominins than almost any other primate. Only chimpanzees may be more valuable than baboons for that purpose, and there are some categories of behavior in which baboons are more analogous to early hominins than are chimpanzees.