Dinopithecus (SciiFii)

The giant baboon (Dinopithecus africanus, name meaning "African terrible ape") is a species of very large baboon, despite its scientific name's meaning, that originally lived during the Pliocene to the Pleistocene epoch of South Africa as an extinct species, Dinopithecus ingens, and was once extinct, but has since been brought back from extinction by SciiFii and introduced throughout the modern open woodlands, grasslands, shrublands, and scrublands across South Africa to help boost biodiversity. The giant baboon is about twice the size of the largest Papio baboons, with males averaging 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall when standing on their hind legs and weighing 46 kg (101 lb) and females standing 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall when standing on their back legs and weighing 29 kg (64 lb), making the giant baboon among the largest living monkeys, hence its name. Like most papionins, giant baboons are omnivorous feeders that consume a wide range of readily digestible plant parts, especially fruits, as well as insects and other invertebrates, and small vertebrates. Giant baboons are diurnal, terrestrial, and live in complex, mixed-gender social groups of 8 to 200 individuals per troop. Giant baboons use at least ten different vocalizations to communicate. When traveling as a group, males will lead, females and young stay safely in the middle, and less-dominant males bring up the rear. A giant baboon group's hierarchy is a serious matter, and some subspecies have developed behaviors intended to avoid confrontation and retaliation. For example, males may use infants as a kind of "passport" or shield for safe approach toward another male. One male will pick up the infant and hold it up as it nears the other male. This action often calms the other male and allows the first male to approach safely. The average lifespan of the giant baboon in the wild is roughly around 20–25 years; some may live up to 40 years. Giant baboons, like other baboons, are important in their ecosystem, not only serving as food for larger predators, but also dispersing seeds in their waste and through their messy foraging habits. They are also efficient predators of smaller animals and their young, keeping some animals' populations in check. Giant baboons have been able to fill a variety of ecological niches, including places inhospitable to other animals, such as regions taken over by human settlement. Thus, they are one of the most successful African primates and are not listed as threatened or endangered. However, the same behavioral adaptations that make them so successful also cause them to be considered pests by humans in many areas. Continued habitat loss forces more and more giant baboons to migrate toward areas of human settlement.
Category:Animals
Category:Species
Category:SciiFii