Robert M. Seyfarth (born February 16, 1948) is an American
primatologist and author. With his wife and collaborator
Dorothy L. Cheney, he spent years studying the social behavior, communication, and cognition of wild
primate
Primates are a diverse order (biology), order of mammals. They are divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include the Tarsiiformes, tarsiers and ...
s in their natural habitat, including more than a decade of field work with
baboon
Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chac ...
s in the
Okavango Delta
The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Grassland; formerly spelled "Okovango" or "Okovanggo") in Botswana is a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the ...
of
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kal ...
. Seyfarth, a professor of psychology at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...
until his retirement, is a member of both the
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...
and the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...
.
Background and career
Robert M. Seyfarth was born on February 16, 1948.
He grew up in Chicago, but enjoyed fishing trips with his father to Canada and the Caribbean. During his senior year at
Phillips Exeter Academy
(not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God)
, location = 20 Main Street
, city = Exeter, New Hampshire
, zipcode ...
, he became interested in science after taking a course on
Darwin
Darwin may refer to:
Common meanings
* Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection
* Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...
.
In 1970, he graduated from the honors program in Biological Anthropology at
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...
. Fascinated by wild
primates
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...
, Seyfarth then applied to work at
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
with
Robert Hinde
Robert Aubrey Hinde (26 October 1923 – 23 December 2016) was a British zoologist, ethologist and psychologist.Bateson, P., Stevenson-Hinde, J., & Clutton-Brock, T. (2018). Robert Aubrey Hinde CBE. 26 October 1923—23 December 2016. 65 ...
, who had been the thesis advisor of
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best kn ...
. Having been accepted by Hinde, Seyfarth then spent two years (1972–1974) in the field studying baboons in
Mountain Zebra National Park
Mountain Zebra National Park is a national park in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa proclaimed in July 1937 for the purpose of providing a nature reserve for the endangered Cape mountain zebra.
History
In the early 1930s, the Cape ...
in South Africa, together with Dorothy Cheney, whom he had recently married.
In 1976, Seyfarth received a doctorate from Cambridge.
After a four-year postdoc at
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York (state), New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medica ...
, and another four years at
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...
(UCLA) as assistant professors, Seyfarth and Cheney moved to the University of Pennsylvania in 1985, where Seyfarth joined the Psychology Department.
Research

Seyfarth's research and publications were largely based on longterm field studies of primates in the natural habitat, usually in partnership with Cheney. From 1977 to 1988, Seyfarth and Cheney studied the behavior and ecology of
vervet monkey
The vervet monkey (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus''), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus '' Chlorocebus''. The five distinc ...
s, in Kenya's
Amboseli National Park
Amboseli National Park, formerly Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve, is a national park in Kajiado South Constituency in Kajiado County, Kenya. The park is in size at the core of an ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The local ...
. This research was summarized in their book ''How Monkeys See the World'' (1990).
They showed that the alarm calls of vervet monkeys have specific semantic content, so that playing back a recording of one type of call makes monkeys look up in the sky for eagles, while playing back a different call makes monkeys scan the bushes for a snake. According to the ''Newsletter'' of the
Animal Behavior Society
The Animal Behavior Society is an international non-profit scientific society that encourages and promotes the professional study of animal behavior. It has open membership and also provides a certification and directory for animal behaviorists. ...
, "These results were the first strong evidence that non-human vertebrates use signals to refer to things external to themselves, and as such revolutionized our understanding of the cognitive side of animal communication."

From 1992 to 2008, Seyfarth and Cheney studied vocal communication and social structure of
chacma baboon
The chacma baboon (''Papio ursinus''), also known as the Cape baboon, is, like all other baboons, from the Old World monkey family. It is one of the largest of all monkeys. Located primarily in southern Africa, the chacma baboon has a wide vari ...
s, at the
Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana. This research was summarized in their book ''Baboon Metaphysics'' (2007).
Seyfarth and Cheney studied baboon vocalizations, social relationships, and social cognition, with a particular interest in factors that contribute to baboon fitness. Their research showed that baboons are acutely aware of hierarchies and relationships in the group they belong to. Baboon mothers who build good relationships with other adults greatly increase the chance of their offspring's survival. According to Seyfarth, the rules for successful baboons are, "like
hose
A hose is a flexible hollow tube designed to carry fluids from one location to another. Hoses are also sometimes called ''pipes'' (the word ''pipe'' usually refers to a rigid tube, whereas a hose is usually a flexible one), or more generally ' ...
in a Jane Austen novel, be nice to your relatives and get in with the high-ranking relatives".
The Animal Behavior Society has described Seyfarth and Cheney as "pre-eminent leaders not just in primate communication but in the field of animal communication as a whole."
Honors
Seyfarth was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012
and to the National Academy of Science in 2017.
The
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Sc ...
awarded its 2010 Cozzarelli Prize, for the best article in the area of Behavioral and Social Sciences, to a paper about baboon collaboration coauthored by Cheney and Seyfarth.
Representative publications
* Cheney, D.L. & Seyfarth, R.M. (1990) ''How Monkeys See The World: Inside The Mind of Another Species''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
* Cheney, D.L. & Seyfarth, R.M. (2007) ''Baboon Metaphysics: The Evolution of a Social Mind''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
* Smuts, B., Cheney, D., Seyfarth, R., Wrangham, R. & Struhsaker, T. (1987) Primate Societies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Footnotes
References
External links
Dorothy’s and Robert’s joint website, where copies of all of their publications can be found
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seyfarth, Robert
1948 births
Living people
University of Pennsylvania faculty
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Harvard College alumni
Ethologists
Rockefeller University faculty
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Primatologists
Scientists from Chicago
Writers from Chicago
Phillips Exeter Academy alumni