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Baboon

Massive Monkeys: With large heads and long, naked, doglike muzzles, baboons are the largest members of the monkey family. The two most common baboons live in East Africa — the olive baboon and the yellow baboon. Considered Old World monkeys due to their nose shape and lack of tails, these animals live in large, multi-male troops. Members are close with a large part of their day taken up by grooming each other.

Loose Cheeks: The muscles in a baboon's cheek are only weakly held together, which allows tissue to expand far beyond the capacity of a normal cheek. When a baboon forces a lot of food into its mouth, it forms a pouch with its cheek, allowing the baboon to gather food quickly or to hide food from predators.

Eyes and Teeth: A baboon's sight and hearing are acute. The amber eyes see in full color and the pointed ears are angled forward when a noise is heard. A baboon's impressive canines can grow as long as 2 inches or about as long as a lion's canines. These large pointed teeth are found in both sexes, but are especially prominent in males, which they use for intimidation.

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MORE BABOON

VIDEO: Baboons Fighting

QUIZ: Join a Baboon Troup

JOURNALS: Living with Baboons

EXPERTS: Ask the Baboon Experts

INTERACTIVE: Anatomy of a Yellow Baboon

DID YOU KNOW?

Living on Dew: By licking the dew that collects at night in their fur, baboons can survive for extended periods of time without water.

Speaking Baboon: Baboons use over 30 different vocalizations. They also communicate non-verbally through facial expressions, yawns, shrugs and lip smacking.

Making Friends: Friendship is supremely important in baboon society. A friendship may include grooming, food sharing, defense and, if between opposite sexes, mating rights.