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Gesquiere, LR; Learn, NH; Simao, MCM; Onyango, PO; Alberts, SC; Altmann, J, Life at the top: energetic and psychological stress in wild male primates, Science, vol. 333 no. 6040 (2011), pp. 357-360 [doi] .
(last updated on 2026/01/17)
Abstract:
In social hierarchies, dominant individuals experience reproductive and health benefits, but the costs of social dominance remain a topic of debate. Prevailing hypotheses predict that higher-ranking males experience higher testosterone and glucocorticoid (stress hormone) levels than lower-ranking males when hierarchies are unstable but not otherwise. In this long-term study of rank-related stress in a natural population of savannah baboons (Papio cynocephalus), high-ranking males had higher testosterone and lower glucocorticoid levels than other males, regardless of hierarchy stability. The singular exception was for the highest-ranking (alpha) males, who exhibited both high testosterone and high glucocorticoid levels. In particular, alpha males exhibited much higher stress hormone levels than second-ranking (beta) males, suggesting that being at the very top may be more costly than previously thought.

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			Papers Published Gesquiere, LR; Learn, NH; Simao, MCM; Onyango, PO; Alberts, SC; Altmann, J, Life at the top: energetic and psychological stress in wild male primates, Science, vol. 333 no. 6040 (2011), pp. 357-360 [doi] . (last updated on 2026/01/17) Abstract: In social hierarchies, dominant individuals experience reproductive and health benefits, but the costs of social dominance remain a topic of debate. Prevailing hypotheses predict that higher-ranking males experience higher testosterone and glucocorticoid (stress hormone) levels than lower-ranking males when hierarchies are unstable but not otherwise. In this long-term study of rank-related stress in a natural population of savannah baboons (Papio cynocephalus), high-ranking males had higher testosterone and lower glucocorticoid levels than other males, regardless of hierarchy stability. The singular exception was for the highest-ranking (alpha) males, who exhibited both high testosterone and high glucocorticoid levels. In particular, alpha males exhibited much higher stress hormone levels than second-ranking (beta) males, suggesting that being at the very top may be more costly than previously thought.