Franck Prugnolle

Abstract Predation exerts a strong selective pressure on prey species, shaping their behavioral adaptations. While proactive strategies such as habitat selection and increased vigilance allow prey to anticipate threats, reactive responses, including immediate flight or retaliation, occur on direct detection of a predator. Baboons (Papio spp.) encounter various predators across their extensive range, but their behavioral responses to these threats remain poorly understood.

1 Introduction Carnivores have developed different evolutionary strategies that allow them to maximise their energy intake required for survival (Ruxton and Houston 2004; Pereira, Owen-Smith, and Moleón 2014; Skinner and Chimimba 2005), including predation, kleptoparasitism and scavenging (Allen, Elbroch, and Wittmer 2021; Inger et al. 2016; Schaller 1976).

Abstract Toxoplasma gondii is a cyst-forming apicomplexan parasite of virtually all warm-blooded species, with all true cats (Felidae) as definitive hosts. It is the etiologic agent of toxoplasmosis, a disease causing substantial public health burden worldwide. Few intercontinental clonal lineages represent the large majority of isolates worldwide. Little is known about the evolutionary forces driving the success of these lineages, the timing and the mechanisms of their global dispersal.