Larissa Swedell

Photo credit: Julian Saunders

Associate Professor Department of Anthropology Queens College and The Graduate Center City University of New York

Education

Ph.D. 2000, Columbia University

Contact

Email:

Website: www.baboonsonline.org/swedell/

Tel: (718) 997-2897

Fax: (718) 997-2885

Overview of Research

My interests center on the interacting social and reproductive strategies of males and females in complex social systems.  More broadly, I am interested in the behavior, ecology, and evolution of nonhuman primates and what they can tell us about human biology, evolution, and behavior.  My research so far has focused mainly on hamadryas baboons in Ethiopia, and I'm currently broadening my scope to include chacma baboons of the Western Cape Peninsula of South Africa, where my PhD student Shahrina Chowdhury is conducting her dissertation fieldwork.  In the wake of increasing habitat loss and concomitant threats to all wildlife, including baboons, I am actively involved in conservation strategies, mainly via conservation education and public outreach.  I am currently directing my resources towards the Save Awash National Park conservation project in Ethiopia (founded and operated by Mathew Pines) and the Imfene Baboon Conservation and Education Initiative (a collaborative public outreach effort that I co-founded and operate with Julian Saunders).

I am currently seeking Ph.D. students to take on the following projects at Filoha: (1) a detailed study of female sociality and bonding patterns in hamadryas baboons, and (2) a study of the nutritional ecology of hamadryas baboons (see Filoha field site page for more details).

Publications

(For downloadable pdfs, go to: http://qc-cuny.academia.edu/LarissaSwedell)

Swedell, L. (in press) Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas).  IN The Mammals of Africa, Vol. 2, Primates.  edited by T. Butynski, J. Kingdon, & J. Kalina.  Academic Press.

Swedell, L. (in press) Hamadryas Baboons (Papio hamadryas).  IN All the World’s Primates, edited by Noel Rowe.  Pogonias Press.

Swedell, L., Saunders, J., Schreier, A., Davis, B., Tesfaye, T., & Pines, M. (accepted)  Female “Dispersal” in Hamadryas Baboons: Transfer among Social Units in a Multilevel Society. American Journal of Physical Anthropology DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21504.

Pines, M., Saunders, J., & Swedell, L. (2011) Alternative Routes to the Leader Male Role: Follower versus Solitary Male Strategies and Outcomes in Hamadryas Baboons.  American Journal of Primatology DOI: 10.1002/ajp.20951.

Pines, M. & Swedell, L.  (2011) Not without a Fair Fight: Failed Abductions of Females in Wild Hamadryas Baboons.  Primates DOI: 10.1007/s10329-011-0242-x.

Swedell, L. (2011) African Papionins: Diversity of Social Organization and Ecological Flexibility.  IN Primates in Perspective, Second Edition, edited by C. Campbell, A. Fuentes, K. MacKinnon, S. Bearder, & R. Stumpf.  New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 241-277.  (released April 2010)

van Doorn, A., O’Riain, M.J., & Swedell, L. (2010) The effects of extreme seasonality of climate and day length on the activity budget and diet of semi-commensal chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in the Cape Peninsula of South Africa. American Journal of Primatology 72(2): 104-112.

Schreier, A. & Swedell, L. (2009) The Fourth Level of Social Structure in a Multi-Level Society: Ecological and Social Functions of Clans in Hamadryas Baboons. American Journal of Primatology 71: 948-955.

Swedell, L. & Schreier, A. (2009) Male Aggression Towards Females in Hamadryas Baboons: Conditioning, Coercion, and Control. IN Sexual Coercion in Primates: An Evolutionary Perspective on Male Aggression Against Females, edited by M. Muller and R. Wrangham.  Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp. 244-268.

Swedell, L., Hailemeskel, G., & Schreier, A. (2008) Composition and Seasonality of Diet in Wild Hamadryas Baboons: Preliminary Findings from Filoha. Folia Primatologica 79: 476-490.

Schreier, A. & Swedell, L. (2008) Use of Palm Trees as a Sleeping Site by Hamadryas Baboons in Ethiopia.  American Journal of Primatology 70: 107-113.

Swedell, L. & Leigh, S., editors. (2006)  Reproduction and Fitness in Baboons: Behavioral, Ecological, and Life History Perspectives.  Springer, New York.

Swedell, L. & Leigh, S. (2006) Perspectives on Reproduction and Life History in Baboons. IN Reproduction and Fitness in Baboons: Behavioral, Ecological, and Life History Perspectives, edited by L. Swedell & S. Leigh. New York: Springer, pp. 1-15.

Swedell, L. & Saunders, J. (2006) Infant Mortality, Paternity Certainty, and Female Reproductive Strategies in Hamadryas Baboons. IN Reproduction and Fitness in Baboons: Behavioral, Ecological, and Life History Perspectives, edited by L. Swedell & S. Leigh.  New York: Springer, pp. 19-51.

Swedell, L. (2006) Strategies of Sex and Survival in Hamadryas Baboons: Through a Female Lens, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Swedell, L. & Tesfaye, T. (2003) Infant Mortality After Takeovers in Wild Ethiopian Hamadryas Baboons. American Journal of Primatology 60: 113-118.

Swedell, L. (2002a) Affiliation Among Females in Wild Hamadryas Baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas). International Journal of Primatology 23: 1205-1226.

Swedell, L. (2002b) Ranging Behavior, Group Size, and Behavioral Flexibility in Ethiopian Hamadryas Baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas).  Folia Primatologica 73:95-103.