--- title: Baboon Study: Sisters Make You Popular description: Duke researchers found that a high-ranking mother and supportive sisters are the keys to success in baboon society. canonical: https://time.com/3063887/sisters-mother-popularity-baboons/ author: Hannah Goldberg article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-01T17:23:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:55:45.578Z og:title: Sisters Make You Popular, According to Baboon Study og:description: Duke researchers found that a high-ranking mother and supportive sisters are the keys to success in baboon society. og:url: https://time.com/3063887/sisters-mother-popularity-baboons/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltadc2ec7a012f9505/69869df036176091ab90d491/130849142.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5222 og:image:height: 2937 og:image:alt: Christian Heinrich—Getty Images/Imagebroker og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sisters Make You Popular, According to Baboon Study twitter:description: Duke researchers found that a high-ranking mother and supportive sisters are the keys to success in baboon society. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltadc2ec7a012f9505/69869df036176091ab90d491/130849142.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sisters Make You Popular, According to Baboon Study > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Hannah Goldberg](https://time.com/author/hannah-goldberg/) ## Hannah Goldberg Aug 1, 2014 5:23 PM UTC  Yellow Baboons with babys sitting on a trunk, Moremi Nationalpark in Botswana, Africa. Yellow Baboons with babys sitting on a trunk, Moremi Nationalpark in Botswana, Africa. Christian Heinrich—Getty Images/Imagebroker by [Hannah Goldberg](https://time.com/author/hannah-goldberg/) ## Hannah Goldberg Aug 1, 2014 5:23 PM UTC A study of dominance in female baboons reveals two keys to a high rank in primate society: a close bond with your mother and a circle of supportive sisters. Duke University biology professor Susan Alberts and her colleagues studied a population of yellow baboons in Kenya, observing the rise and fall of females on the baboon social ladder. “Daughters of high-ranking females generally mature more quickly, produce more offspring, and have better access to food and mates. It’s like being born with a silver spoon in your mouth,” said Alberts. Baboon mothers often assist their daughters in competition for food and mates, helping establish their daughters’ position in the animal kingdom. Researchers also discovered the power of sisterhood among baboons; female’s with many sisters were more likely to reach the rank of their mothers. Sisters are willing to gang up on rival families in order to boost their siblings’ rank. But when it came to competition within the family, that support drifted away; baboon sisters helped each other only as long as their own rank wasn’t in jeopardy. The [study](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347214002395), published in August’s issue of _Animal Behaviour,_ suggests that the secret to the Kardashian family’s popularity might not be its reality show, but rather sisterhood. 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