Question

Infaniticide has been observed among several species of savanna baboons. in instances where a ‘bachelor' male takes over a harem, it has been hypothesized that infanticide exists to

Answer 1

The hypothesis seeks to explain that the new male baboon undertakes this practice in order to father its own offspring with the victim's mother.

Answer 2

Answer:

It has been hypothesized that infanticide exists to:

Prevent future opponents from entering the same pack for harem control and only grow the offspring of the new alpha within the herd.

Explanation:

The practice of infanticide is very common to see it in baboons and lions, where an alpha takes care of a harem, which provides a certain level of protection, but instead kills preexisting offspring and banishes young people, in order to avoid any kind of future confrontation for the control of the harem and that in addition, the females are responsible for raising only the young of the new alpha, however, it regularly happens that a new 'bachelor' with more experience in fighting or younger comes to claim the harem as his, murders the previous alpha, takes possession and repeats the aforementioned practice.