Female baboons with male friends live longer

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Research has shown strong social relationships -- both with friends and significant others -- to be good for human health. Now a new study shows the same holds true for baboons.

Previous studies have shown same-sex social interaction to have positive impacts on the longevity of rats and dolphins, but the latest research out of Duke University showed the health and life expectancy of female baboons was especially improved by increased interaction, or "social grooming," with male companions.

"Grooming is the baboon equivalent of gossip, or having a good conversation over a cup of coffee," Duke researcher and study co-author, Susan Alberts, explained in a press release.

Alberts and her colleagues -- including study co-author Jenny Tung -- observed the social behaviors of some 200 wild female baboons living in the plains of southern Kenya. They estimated long-term sociability by measuring how often each female partook in social grooming sessions relative to rest of the troop.

The researchers found that more sociable females were likely to live two to three years longer than their less-friendly female peers. As the reason why, Alberts surmised: "Males' larger size may make them better than females at defending their friends against potential bullies."

The study also found that while older females begin interacting less and less with other females, their male friendships remain constant.

"When females get older, many of their female peers start to pass away, and their daughters become tied up with their own infants, leaving less time for social interaction," Alberts said. "It suggests that social isolation isn't an inevitable part of aging, but instead may simply be a consequence of declines in potential friends' availability."

The study was published this week in the journal the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.