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67-484: The gelada ( Theropithecus gelada , Amharic : ጭላዳ , romanized :  č̣əlada , Oromo : Jaldeessa daabee ), sometimes called the bleeding-heart monkey or the gelada baboon , is a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands , living at elevations of 1,800–4,400 m (5,900–14,400 ft) above sea level. It is the only living member of the genus Theropithecus ,

134-523: A holy language by the Rastafari religion and is widely used among its followers worldwide. Early Afro-Asiatic populations speaking proto- Semitic , proto- Cushitic and proto- Omotic languages would have diverged by the fourth or fifth millennium BC. Shortly afterwards, the proto-Cushitic and proto-Omotic groups would have settled in the Ethiopian highlands, with the proto-Semitic speakers crossing

201-453: A node-based clade definition , for example, could be "All descendants of the last common ancestor of species X and Y". On the other hand, polyphyletic groups can be delimited as a conjunction of several clades, for example "the flying vertebrates consist of the bat, bird, and pterosaur clades". From a practical perspective, grouping species monophyletically facilitates prediction far more than does polyphyletic grouping. For example, classifying

268-524: A pidgin as early as the 4th century AD to enable communication between Aksumite soldiers speaking Semitic, Cushitic, and Omotic languages, but this hypothesis has not garnered widespread acceptance. The preservation in Old Amharic of VSO word order and gutturals typical of Semitic languages, Cushitic influences shared with other Ethio-Semitic languages (especially those of the Southern branch), and

335-588: A baboon's. It can also be physically distinguished from a baboon by the bright patch of skin on its chest. This patch is hourglass-shaped . On males, it is bright red and surrounded by white hair; on females, it is far less pronounced, but when in estrus , the female's patch brightens, and a "necklace" of fluid-filled blisters forms on the patch. This is thought to be analogous to the swollen buttocks common to most baboons experiencing estrus. In addition, females have knobs of skin around their patches. Geladas also have well developed ischial callosities . Sexual dimorphism

402-430: A bare patch of skin but it is less pronounced, except during estrus , when it brightens and exhibits a "necklace" of fluid-filled blisters. Males average 18.5 kg (41 lb) and females average 11 kg (24 lb) in weight. The head-body length is 50–75 cm (20–30 in) with a tail of 30–50 cm (12–20 in). The gelada has a complex multilevel social structure. Reproductive units and male units are

469-452: A classification is discouraged. Monophyletic groups (that is, clades ) are considered by these schools of thought to be the only valid groupings of organisms because they are diagnosed ("defined", in common parlance) on the basis of synapomorphies , while paraphyletic or polyphyletic groups are not. From the perspective of ancestry, clades are simple to define in purely phylogenetic terms without reference to clades previously introduced:

536-643: A distinct preference for barley. In 2008, the IUCN assessed the gelada as least concern, although their population had reduced from an estimated 440,000 in the 1970s to around 200,000 in 2008. It is listed in Appendix II of CITES . Major threats to the gelada are a reduction of their range as a result of agricultural expansion and shooting as crop pests. Previously, these monkeys were trapped for use as laboratory animals or hunted to obtain their capes to make items of clothing. As of 2008, proposals have been made for

603-458: A female, with both suppressing their normal mating cries so as not to be overheard. If discovered, the dominant male attacks the miscreants in a clear form of punishment. It is the first time that evidence of the knowledge of cheating and fear of discovery have been recorded among animals in the wild. Dr. Aliza le Roux of the university's Department of Zoology and Entomology believes that dishonesty and punishment are not uniquely human traits, and that

670-418: A lot of', and φῦλον ( phûlon ) 'genus, species', and refers to the fact that a polyphyletic group includes organisms (e.g., genera, species) arising from multiple ancestral sources. Conversely, the term monophyly , or monophyletic , employs the ancient Greek adjective μόνος ( mónos ) 'alone, only, unique', and refers to the fact that a monophyletic group includes organisms consisting of all

737-493: A movement greater than 10 m (33 ft). In stark contrast, the geladas always fled great distances to the cliffs for safety whenever they encountered aggressive domestic dogs. When in estrus, the female points her posterior towards a male and raises it, moving her tail to one side. The male then approaches the female and inspects her chest and genital areas. A female will copulate up to five times per day, usually around midday. Breeding and reproduction can occur at any time of

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804-548: A name derived from the Greek root words for "beast-ape" (θηρο-πίθηκος : thēro-píthēkos). Like its close relatives in genus Papio , the baboons , it is largely terrestrial , spending much of its time foraging in grasslands , with grasses comprising up to 90% of its diet. It has buff to dark brown hair with a dark face and pale eyelids. Adult males have longer hair on their backs and a conspicuous bright red patch of skin shaped like an hourglass on their chests. Females also have

871-419: A new Blue Nile Gorges National Park and Indeltu (Shebelle) Gorges Reserve to protect larger numbers. Amharic language Amharic ( / æ m ˈ h ær ɪ k / am- HARR -ik or / ɑː m ˈ h ɑːr ɪ k / ahm- HAR -ik ; native name : አማርኛ , romanized :  Amarəñña , IPA: [amarɨɲːa] ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language , which is a subgrouping within

938-421: A newly discovered grass in the monophyletic family Poaceae , the true grasses, immediately results in numerous predictions about its structure and its developmental and reproductive characteristics, that are synapomorphies of this family. In contrast, Linnaeus' assignment of plants with two stamens to the polyphyletic class Diandria, while practical for identification, turns out to be useless for prediction, since

1005-561: A reproduction unit, which is rare, is usually just between the females. Aggression is more frequent between members of different reproductive units and is usually started by females, but males and females from both sides can join and engage if the conflict escalates. Males can remain in a reproductive unit for four to five years. While geladas have traditionally been considered to have a male-transfer society, many males appear to be likely to return and breed in their natal bands. Nevertheless, gelada males leave their natal units and try to take over

1072-475: A unique gait, known as the shuffle gait, that it uses when feeding. It squats bipedally and moves by sliding its feet without changing its posture. Because of this gait, the gelada's rump is hidden beneath, so is unavailable for display; its bright red chest patch is visible, though. Geladas are found only in the high grasslands of the deep gorges of the central Ethiopian plateau. They live in elevations 1,800–4,400 m (5,900–14,400 ft) above sea level, using

1139-408: A unit of their own. A male can take over a reproductive unit either through direct aggression and fighting or by joining one as a subordinate and taking some females with him to create a new unit. When more than one male is in a unit, only one of them can mate with the females. The females in the group together can have power over the dominant male. When a new male tries to take over a unit and overthrow

1206-751: Is a South Ethio-Semitic language, along with Gurage , Argobba , Harari , and others. Due to the social stratification of the time, the Cushitic Agaw adopted the South Ethio-Semitic language and eventually absorbed the Semitic population. Amharic thus developed with a Cushitic substratum and a Semitic superstratum . The northernmost South Ethio-Semitic speakers, or the proto-Amhara, remained in constant contact with their North Ethio-Semitic neighbors, evidenced by linguistic analysis and oral traditions. A 7th century southward shift of

1273-579: Is an abugida , and the graphemes of the Amharic writing system are called fidäl . It is derived from a modification of the Ge'ez script . Each character represents a consonant+vowel sequence, but the basic shape of each character is determined by the consonant, which is modified for the vowel. Some consonant phonemes are written by more than one series of characters: / ʔ / , / s / , / tsʼ / , and / h / (the last one has four distinct letter forms). This

1340-663: Is because these fidäl originally represented distinct sounds, but phonological changes merged them. The citation form for each series is the consonant+ ä form, i.e. the first column of the fidäl . The Amharic script is included in Unicode , and glyphs are included in fonts available with major operating systems. As in most other Ethiopian Semitic languages , gemination is contrastive in Amharic. That is, consonant length can distinguish words from one another; for example, alä 'he said', allä 'there is'; yǝmätall 'he hits', yǝmmättall 'he will be hit'. Gemination

1407-501: Is called an abugida ( አቡጊዳ ). The graphemes are called fidäl ( ፊደል ), which means "script", "alphabet", "letter", or "character". There is no universally agreed-upon Romanization of Amharic into Latin script . The Amharic examples in the sections below use one system that is common among linguists specializing in Ethiopian Semitic languages. Amharic has been the official working language of Ethiopia, language of

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1474-410: Is carried on its mother's belly for the first five weeks, and thereafter on her back. Infants can move independently at around five months old. A subordinate male in a reproductive unit may help care for an infant when it is six months old. When herds form, juveniles and infants may gather into play groups of around 10 individuals. When males reach puberty, they gather into unstable groups independent of

1541-480: Is in Africa.' ልጁ Lǝǧ-u the boy ተኝቷል täññǝtʷall. asleep is ልጁ ተኝቷል Lǝǧ-u täññǝtʷall. {the boy} {asleep is} 'The boy is asleep.' ( -u is a definite article. Lǝǧ is 'boy'. Lǝǧu is 'the boy') አየሩ Ayyäru the weather ደስ däss pleasant Polyphyly For example, the biological characteristic of warm-bloodedness evolved separately in the ancestors of mammals and

1608-469: Is mostly heard as the affricate sound [ t͡sʼ ]. The rhotic consonant is realized as a trill when geminated and a tap otherwise. The closed central unrounded vowel ⟨ə⟩ /ɨ/ and mid-central vowel ⟨ä⟩ /ə/ are generally fronted to [ ɪ ] and [ ɛ ], respectively, following palatal consonants , and generally retracted and rounded to [ ʊ ] and [ ɔ ], respectively, following labialized velar consonants . The Amharic script

1675-416: Is not indicated in Amharic orthography, but Amharic readers typically do not find this to be a problem. This property of the writing system is analogous to the vowels of Arabic and Hebrew or the tones of many Bantu languages , which are not normally indicated in writing. Ethiopian novelist Haddis Alemayehu , who was an advocate of Amharic orthography reform , indicated gemination in his novel Love to

1742-705: Is rare. As bands, reproductive units exist in a common home range. Within the band, members are closely related and between the units there is no social hierarchy. Bands usually break apart every eight to nine years as a new band forms in a new home range. Researchers from the University of the Free State in South Africa, while observing gelada during field studies, discovered that the monkeys were capable of "cheating" on their partners and covering up their infidelity. A nondominant male mates surreptitiously with

1809-499: Is seen in this species; males average 18.5 kg (40.8 lb), while females are smaller, averaging 11 kg (24.3 lb). The head and body length of this species is 50–75 cm (19.7–29.5 in) for both sexes. Tail length is 30–50 cm (11.8–19.7 in). The gelada has several adaptations for its terrestrial and graminivorous (grass-eating) lifestyle. It has small, sturdy fingers adapted for pulling grass and narrow, small incisors adapted for chewing it. The gelada has

1876-484: Is thought to be near that of humans. They sit around and chatter at each other, signifying to those around that they matter, in a way, to the individual "speaking". To some extent, calls are related to the status of an individual. In addition, females have calls signaling their estrus. Geladas communicate through gestures, as well. They display threats by flipping their upper lips back on their nostrils to display their teeth and gums, and by pulling back their scalps to display

1943-751: The Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages . It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas , and also serves as a lingua franca for all other populations residing in major cities and towns in Ethiopia . The language serves as the official working language of the Ethiopian federal government, and is also the official or working language of several of Ethiopia's federal regions . As of 2020, it has over 33,700,000 mother-tongue speakers and more than 25,100,000 second language speakers in 2019, making

2010-534: The Sinai Peninsula into Asia . A later return movement of peoples from South Arabia would have introduced the Semitic languages to Ethiopia. Based on archaeological evidence, the presence of Semitic speakers in the territory date to some time before 500 BC. Linguistic analysis suggests the presence of Semitic languages in Ethiopia as early as 2000 BC. Levine indicates that by the end of that millennium,

2077-504: The total number of speakers over 58,800,000. Amharic is the largest, most widely spoken language in Ethiopia, and the second most spoken mother-tongue in Ethiopia (after Oromo ). Amharic is also the second most widely spoken Semitic language in the world (after Arabic ). Amharic is written left-to-right using a system that grew out of the Geʽez script . The segmental writing system in which consonant-vowel sequences are written as units

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2144-493: The Arsi region of Ethiopia, which may be an incentive for females to abort and avoid investing caring for an infant that will most likely be killed. Infanticide in geladas remains fairly uncommon, though, compared to many primates that live in one-male units such as gorillas or gray langurs . The females that cancel their pregnancy are thought to bond with the new leader faster. When a male loses his position as dominant harem master,

2211-618: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Algeria, Morocco, Spain, and India (more exactly at Mirzapur , Cueva Victoria, Pirro Nord, Ternifine, Hadar , Turkana , Makapansgat , and Swartkrans ). The two subspecies of gelada are: The gelada has been referred to by other names, including the "gelada baboon", "bleeding-heart baboon", or simply "baboon", implying a monophyletic relationship with baboons, which historically included (apart from Theropithecus )

2278-469: The Ethiopianist tradition they are often transcribed with a dot below the letter. The notation of central vowels in the Ethiopianist tradition is shown in angled brackets. The voiced bilabial plosive /b/ is phonetically realized as a voiced labial approximant [β̞] medially between sonorants in non- geminated form. The fricative ejective / sʼ / is heard as a fricative ejective [ sʼ ], but

2345-523: The Grave by placing a dot above the characters whose consonants were geminated, but this practice is rare. Punctuation includes the following: One may construct simple Amharic sentences by using a subject and a predicate . Here are a few simple sentences: ኢትዮጵያ ʾItyop̣p̣ya Ethiopia አፍሪካ ʾAfrika Africa ውስጥ wǝsṭ in ናት nat is ኢትዮጵያ አፍሪካ ውስጥ ናት ʾItyop̣p̣ya ʾAfrika wǝsṭ nat {Ethiopia} {Africa} {in} {is} 'Ethiopia

2412-449: The alphabet used for writing the Geʽez language. There are 34 basic characters, each of which has seven forms depending on which vowel is to be pronounced in the syllable. There are also 49 "wa" letters, which form compound sounds involving "w." All together, the alphabet has some 280 letters. Until 2020 Amharic was the sole official language of Ethiopia. The 2007 census reported that Amharic

2479-535: The ancestors of birds; "warm-blooded animals" is therefore a polyphyletic grouping. Other examples of polyphyletic groups are algae , C4 photosynthetic plants , and edentates . Many taxonomists aim to avoid homoplasies in grouping taxa together, with a goal to identify and eliminate groups that are found to be polyphyletic. This is often the stimulus for major revisions of the classification schemes. Researchers concerned more with ecology than with systematics may take polyphyletic groups as legitimate subject matter;

2546-517: The bands, which are made up of two to 27 reproductive units and several all-male units. Herds consist of up to 60 reproductive units that are sometimes from different bands and last for short times. Communities are made of one to four bands whose home ranges overlap extensively. A gelada typically lives around 15 years. Within the reproductive units, the females tend to be closely related and have strong social bonds. Reproductive units split if they become too large. While females have strong social bonds in

2613-537: The center of gravity of the Kingdom of Aksum and the ensuing integration and Christianization of the proto-Amhara also resulted in a high prevalence of Geʽez sourced lexicon in Amharic. Some time after the 9th century AD, Amharic diverged from its closest relative, Argobba , probably due to religious differences as the Argobba adopted Islam. In 1983, Lionel Bender proposed that Amharic may have been constructed as

2680-403: The cliffs for sleeping and montane grasslands for foraging. These grasslands have widely spaced trees and also contain bushes and dense thickets. The highland areas where they live tend to be cooler and less arid than lowland areas. Thus, the geladas usually do not experience the negative effects that the dry season has on food availability. Nevertheless, in some areas, they do experience frost in

2747-451: The cliffs to sleep. Predators observed to hunt geladas include domestic dogs , leopards , servals , hyenas , and lammergeiers . Geladas live in a complex, multilevel society similar to that of the hamadryas baboon . The smallest and most basic groups are the reproductive units, which include up to 12 females, their young, and one to four males, and the all-male units, which are made up of 2–15 males. The next level of gelada societies are

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2814-399: The common name to be simply "gelada". The gelada is large and robust, and it is covered with buff to dark-brown, coarse hair and has a dark face with pale eyelids. Its arms and feet are nearly black. Its short tail ends in a tuft of hair. Adult males have a long, heavy cape of hair on their backs. The gelada has a hairless face with a short muzzle that looks more similar to a chimpanzee's than

2881-498: The core inhabitants of Greater Ethiopia would have consisted of dark-skinned agropastoralists speaking Afro-Asiatic languages of the Semitic, Cushitic and Omotic branches. Other scholars such as Messay Kebede and Daniel E. Alemu argue that migration across the Red Sea was defined by reciprocal exchange, if it even occurred at all, and that Ethio-Semitic-speaking ethnic groups should not be characterized as foreign invaders. Amharic

2948-574: The courts, the language of trade and everyday communications and of the military since the late 12th century. The Amhara nobles supported the Zagwe prince Lalibela in his power struggle against his brothers which led him to make Amharic Lessana Negus as well as fill the Amhara nobles in the top positions of his Kingdom. The appellation of "language of the king" ( Ge'ez : ልሳነ ነጋሢ ; "Lǝssanä nägaśi," Amharic : የነጋሢ ቋንቋ "Yä-nägaśi qʷanqʷa") and its use in

3015-402: The descendants of a unique common ancestor. By comparison, the term paraphyly , or paraphyletic , uses the ancient Greek preposition παρά ( pará ) 'beside, near', and refers to the situation in which one or several monophyletic subgroups are left apart from all other descendants of a unique common ancestor. In many schools of taxonomy , the recognition of polyphyletic groups in

3082-567: The dry season, as well as hailstorms in the wet season. Geladas are the only primates that are primarily graminivores and grazers – grass blades make up to 90% of their diet. They eat both the blades and the seeds of grasses. When both blades and seeds are available, geladas prefer the seeds. They eat flowers, rhizomes , and roots when available, using their hands to dig for the latter two. They consume herbs, small plants, fruits, creepers, bushes, and thistles. Insects can be eaten, but only rarely and only if they can easily be obtained. During

3149-557: The dry season, herbs are preferred over grasses. Geladas consume their food more like ungulates than primates, and they can chew their food as effectively as zebra . Geladas are primarily diurnal . At night, they sleep on the ledges of cliffs. At sunrise, they leave the cliffs and travel to the tops of the plateaus to feed and socialize. When morning ends, social activities tend to wane and the geladas primarily focus on foraging. They travel during this time, as well. When evening arrives, they exhibit more social activities before descending to

3216-455: The females and new leader may allow him to remain in the social unit as a nonbreeding resident to act as a babysitter. This way, the ex-leader can protect any infants he had fathered from being killed by the new leader, the females can protect the infants fathered by him, and when the new leader faces a potential rival, the ex-leader will be more inclined to help support him in keeping rivals at bay. Mortality among infants occurs at its highest in

3283-633: The females. The gelada has a diverse repertoire of vocalizations thought to be near in complexity to that of humans. The population of geladas is thought to have dropped from 440,000 in the 1970s to 200,000 in 2008. Despite the heavy loss, it is listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature . Since 1979, the gelada is customarily placed in its own genus ( Theropithecus ), though some genetic research suggests that this monkey should be grouped with its baboon (genus Papio ) kin; other researchers have classified

3350-539: The genera Papio (true baboons), and Mandrillus (mandrills and drills). Since the 1990s, however, molecular phylogenetic studies clarified relationships among papionin monkeys, demonstrating that mangabeys of the genus Lophocebus are more closely related to Papio and Theropithecus , while mangabeys of the genus Cercocebus are more closely related to Mandrillus . These findings largely invalidated any scientifically based justification for referring to mandrills and drills as baboons, as doing so while excluding

3417-477: The genome show an alternative history, the dominant relationship across the genome supports a closer relationship between Papio and Lophocebus , with Theropithecus as the outgroup. As a close sister relationship between Papio and Theropithecus is the least-supported scenario in recent studies, i "gelada baboon" and other names implying a close relationship with baboons, with increasing clarity, are not scientifically justified, leading researchers to advocate for

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3484-498: The group, a female only interacts with at most three other members of her unit. Grooming and other social interactions among females usually occur between pairs. Females in a reproductive unit exist in a hierarchy, with higher-ranking females having more reproductive success and more offspring than lower-ranking females. Closely related females tend to have a similar hierarchical status. Females generally stay in their natal units for life; cases of females leaving are rare. Aggression within

3551-482: The number of geographically distinct Cushitic languages that have influenced Amharic at different points in time (e.g. Oromo influence beginning in the 16th century) support a natural evolution of Amharic from a Proto-Ethio-Semitic language with considerable Cushitic influences (similar to Gurage, Tigrinya, etc.). The Amharic ejective consonants correspond to the Proto-Semitic " emphatic consonants ." In

3618-469: The observed evidence of this behaviour among gelada monkeys suggests that the roots of the human system of deceit, crime, and punishment lie very deep indeed. Mixed-species association was observed between solitary Ethiopian wolves and geladas. According to the study's findings, gelada monkeys typically do not move on encountering Ethiopian wolves, even when they were in the middle of the herd; 68% of encounters resulted in no movement and only 11% resulted in

3685-417: The other females, but they are usually unresponsive. Most all-male units consist of several subadults and one young adult, led by one male. A member of an all-male unit may spend two to four years in the group before attempting to join a reproductive unit. All-male groups are generally aggressive towards both reproductive units and other all-male units. As in reproductive units, aggression within all-male units

3752-434: The pale eyelids. A gelada submits by fleeing or presenting itself. In 2016, a research group at the University of Michigan found that gelada vocalizations obey Menzerath's law , observing that calls are abbreviated when used in longer sequences. The gelada is considered a crop pest by farmers near Simien National Park . In 2005, they caused an average of 100 kg (220 lb) of crop damage per animal. The geladas had

3819-400: The presence of exactly two stamens has developed convergently in many groups. Species have a special status in systematics as being an observable feature of nature itself and as the basic unit of classification. It is usually implicitly assumed that species are monophyletic (or at least paraphyletic ). However, hybrid speciation arguably leads to polyphyletic species. Hybrid species are

3886-549: The reproductive units. Females sexually mature at around three years, but do not give birth for another year. Males reach puberty at about four to five years, but they are usually unable to reproduce because of social constraints and wait until they are about eight to ten years old. Average lifespan in the wild is 15 years. Adult geladas use a diverse repertoire of vocalizations for various purposes, such as: contact, reassurance, appeasement, solicitation, ambivalence, aggression, and defense. The level of complexity of these vocalizations

3953-467: The resident male, the females can choose to support or oppose him. The male maintains his relationship with the females by grooming them rather than forcing his dominance, in contrast to the society of the hamadryas baboon. Females accept a male into the unit by presenting themselves to him. Not all the females may interact with the male. Usually, one may be his main partner. The male may sometimes be monopolized by this female. The male may try to interact with

4020-639: The royal court are otherwise traced to the Amhara Emperor Yekuno Amlak . It is one of the official languages of Ethiopia , together with other regions like Oromo , Somali , Afar , and Tigrinya . Amharic is an Afro-Asiatic language of the Southwest Semitic group and is related to Geʽez , or Ethiopic, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church; Amharic is written in a slightly modified form of

4087-448: The similarities in activity within the fungus group Alternaria , for example, can lead researchers to regard the group as a valid genus while acknowledging its polyphyly. In recent research, the concepts of monophyly, paraphyly, and polyphyly have been used in deducing key genes for barcoding of diverse groups of species. The term polyphyly , or polyphyletic , derives from the two Ancient Greek words πολύς ( polús ) 'many,

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4154-513: The species even more distantly from Papio . While Theropithecus gelada is the only living species of its genus, separate, larger species are known from the fossil record: T. brumpti , T. darti and T. oswaldi , formerly classified under genus Simopithecus . Theropithecus , while restricted at present to Ethiopia , is also known from fossil specimens found in Africa and the Mediterranean into Asia, including South Africa, Malawi,

4221-425: The two basic groupings. A band comprises a mix of multiple reproductive units and male units; a community is made up of one to four bands. Within the reproductive units the females are commonly closely related. Males will move from their natal group to try to control a unit of their own and females within the unit can choose to support or oppose the new male. When more than one male is in the unit, only one can mate with

4288-413: The unbaboon-like Lophocebus mangabeys would create a polyphyletic group. The status of geladas was less clear and the relationships among Papio , Lophocebus , and Theropithecus continue to reflect high levels of uncertainty, which are further complicated by the discovery of the kipunji . Nevertheless, the most recent and extensive phylogenetic study to date demonstrates that, while large fractions of

4355-410: The wet season, but on average, over 85% of infants survive to their fourth birthday, one of the great advantages of living in an environment with a food source few other animals can exploit, so is unable to sustain many large predators. Females that have just given birth stay on the periphery of the reproductive unit. Other adult females may take an interest in the infants and even kidnap them. An infant

4422-599: The year, although some areas have birth peaks. Most births occur at night. Newborn infants have red faces and closed eyes, and they are covered in black hair. On average, newborn infants weigh 464 g (16.4 oz). If a new male assumes mastery of a harem, females impregnated by the previous leader have an 80% likelihood of aborting, in a phenomenon known as the Bruce effect . Females come into estrus quickly after giving birth, so males have little incentive for practising infanticide, although it does occur in some communities in

4489-475: Was spoken by 21.6 million native speakers in Ethiopia. More recent sources state the number of first-language speakers in 2018 as nearly 32 million, with another 25 million second-language speakers in Ethiopia. Additionally, 3 million emigrants outside of Ethiopia speak the language. Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel speak Amharic. Furthermore, Amharic is considered

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