Elizabeth Archie
Biological Sciences
Professor, Biological Sciences
- Behavioral Ecology
- Disease Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Epidemiology and Population Biology
- Microbiome Dynamics
Archie’s 91ÊÓƵ
Archie in the News
South Bend Tribune
July 25, 2025
“In humans, we know that people who are socially connected and feel a sense of social support live longer than people who are socially isolated,” Elizabeth Archie, a professor of behavioral ecology at the University of Notre Dame and one of the directors of the Amboseli Baboon Research Project, said recently by Zoom from her field station in Amboseli, Kenya.
One Planet (Brazil)
July 07, 2025
"In many mammals, fathers have a reputation for not contributing much to care, but we now know that even seemingly small contributions that males make have really important consequences, at least in baboons," says biologist Elizabeth Archie, author of the study.
Convivimos (Spain)
June 26, 2025
The research, led by Elizabeth Archie, an expert in behavioral ecology, highlights the importance of these relationships, which until now have been little studied due to the predominant role of mothers in caring for their offspring.
Der Tagesspiegel
June 22, 2025
Researchers led by Elizabeth Archie from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA, evaluated data from 216 wild female baboons from the Amboseli Baboon Research Project in Kenya.
CBC Radio
Audio
June 19, 2025
But a new study from the University of Notre Dame and Duke University in the U.S. suggests that when baboon fathers do stick around it can make a big difference, especially to their daughters. Beth Archie is a behavioral ecologist at the University of Notre Dame and the senior author of the study. (Interview begins at 15:28)
NATE, Naver, MYNA, Zum.com (Korea)
June 18, 2025
A research team led by Professor Elizabeth Archie of the University of Notre Dame in the United States announced on the 18th in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B that they had observed a group of baboons in Kenya's Amboseli National Park for several decades and discovered this connection between the bond between father and daughter baboons and the lifespan of the daughters.
Scientias (Netherlands)
June 18, 2025
“The reproductive success of male baboons usually peaks when they are young adults,” explains researcher Elizabeth Archie. “But once they have a few offspring and their fitness declines, they slip into a kind of 'daddy mode', so to speak: they roam less and make less effort to mate. Then they suddenly have time to invest in their children and spend time with them.”
Athens Voice (Greece)
June 18, 2025
The average lifespan of a female baboon to adulthood is about 18 years, meaning that extra longevity could provide time to have another offspring. According to researcher Elizabeth Archie of the University of Notre Dame, this prospect may provide an evolutionary incentive for males to protect their daughters, especially as they age and their reproductive competitiveness declines.
Scientific American
June 18, 2025
But the paper’s senior author Beth Archie, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Notre Dame, says her instinct is that baboon “dads are more important than they seem at first glance.” One possible explanation for these results is that fathers create a “zone of safety” around their daughters, intervening to protect them in conflicts.
Bioengineer.org, ScienMag
June 18, 2025
Male baboons exhibit a unique life-history strategy that contributes to this paternal effect. Elizabeth Archie, professor of biological sciences and the study’s lead author, explains that male baboons typically experience peak reproductive output during their early adulthood.
ABC Newspaper (Spain)
June 18, 2025
And researchers at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana, USA) have found that the care they provide particularly benefits female offspring, to the point that they live longer than those who have not received it.
Talker News, KLAX-TV +40 Others
June 18, 2025
Study corresponding author Professor Elizabeth Archie said: “Male tend to reach their peak reproductive success when they’re young adults. But once they’ve had a few kids and their condition declines, they sort of slide into ‘dad mode,’ where they don’t disperse as much and they don’t try as hard to mate. Then they have time to invest in and hang out with their kids.”
Tages-Anzeiger, MSN (Switzerland)
June 18, 2025
The research team, led by biologist Elizabeth Archie of the University of Notre Dame, found that around one-third of the female monkeys spent their first three years living with their father in the same group. It was striking that the more intensive the grooming between father and daughter—a kind of monkey version of a cozy coffee morning—the stronger the bond and the better the chances of survival.
Der Spiegel (Germany)
June 18, 2025
"Male baboons typically achieve their greatest reproductive success in young adulthood," said biologist Elizabeth Archie of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, the study's lead author. "But once they have a few young and they become less resilient, they slip into a 'daddy mode,' where they move around less and are less intense about mating. Then they have time to care for and spend time with their young."
Ciencia Contada En Espanol (Spain)
June 18, 2025
According to the study's lead author, , who spoke to SINC, "Male parents create a safety zone around their young daughters, allowing them to feed and socialize without being interrupted or harassed by other members of the group."
The Guardian
June 17, 2025
“Among primates, humans are really unusual in how much dads contribute to raising offspring,” said Prof Elizabeth Archie, co-author of the research from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. “Most primates’ dads really don’t contribute very much, but what the baboons are showing us is that maybe we’ve been under-appreciating dads in some species of primates.”
National Geographic
November 16, 2022
In Amboseli, however, researchers have been recording baboon behaviors—births, deaths, grooming, fights—six days a week since the early 1980s, with some records going back to 1971. “You can go back and ask, ‘Hey, is what happened in 2020 the same thing as what happened in 2009 and 1989 and 1979?’” says Beth Archie, co-director of ABRP and a biologist at the University of Notre Dame.