Reactions to infant death by wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: prolonged carrying, non-mother carrying, and partial maternal cannibalism.

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Ressource 1Download: Botting & van de Waal-Primates 2020.pdf (667.06 [Ko])
State: Public
Version: Final published version
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Serval ID
serval:BIB_8C1ECCCB3BEB
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Publication sub-type
Editorial
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Reactions to infant death by wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: prolonged carrying, non-mother carrying, and partial maternal cannibalism.
Journal
Primates; journal of primatology
Author(s)
Botting J., van de Waal E.
ISSN
1610-7365 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0032-8332
Publication state
Published
Issued date
11/2020
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
61
Number
6
Pages
751-756
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article
Publication Status: ppublish
Abstract
Observations of dead infant carrying have been reported for many primate species, and researchers have proposed several hypotheses to explain this behaviour. However, despite being a relatively well-studied species, reports of dead infant carrying in wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) remain scarce. Here we report 14 observations of dead infant carrying by female vervet monkeys in a population at Mawana Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Most of the females carried the dead infant for a day or less, but one female carried her infant for at least 14 days. In one case the maternal sister of a dead infant carried it after the death of their mother. We also report a case of mother-infant cannibalism: a female consumed part of her deceased infant's tail. Other post-mortem care-taking behaviours such as grooming, smelling and licking were also recorded. Of 97 recorded infant deaths in this study population since 2010, 14.4% are known to have elicited dead infant carrying, a proportion similar to that reported for other monkey species. We discuss our observations in relation to various hypotheses about this behaviour, including the post-parturition hormones hypothesis, learning to mother hypothesis, and unawareness of death hypothesis.
Keywords
Animals, Behavior, Animal, Cannibalism, Chlorocebus aethiops/physiology, Death, Female, Grooming, Humans, Maternal Behavior, Social Behavior, South Africa, Deceased-infant carrying, Thanatology, Vervet monkey
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
19/08/2020 11:59
Last modification date
21/11/2022 9:31
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