An Educational Video About Monkey Sex | National Geographic

Aside from humans, in particularly your humble narrator, what primate species spends the least amount of time climbing? Gelada monkeys have, like us, adapted for a life spent mostly on the ground. This has produced some unique aspects of gelada anatomy, society, and sex.

That's right, this is about monkey sex! Strap in. Many primates indicate sexual readiness with swollen red behinds. Because geladas often sit, another method emerged: their eye-catching chests are thought to play the same role that an attractive posterior plays for many other primate species. I say, why can't it be both?

Their society is organized around a dominant male and a harem of multiple females. The females' loyalties are fickle, however, and power struggles often occur. This is essentially reality television.

This is a familiar scene for geladas: a younger male challenging the incumbent alpha. Just there, even when you're fighting, you gotta have that flowing mane, am I right? He's successful and wins the harem's allegiance— for now, anyway.

So there you have it: the gelada baboon. I'm sorry, there's a lot of monkey! You may see on the internet that sometimes they're called baboons. They're not true baboons. Don’t leave a comment pointing that out, that we made a mistake. You know what they are for National Geographic. Okay, carry on. [Music]