Callitrichid responses to dead and dying infants: the effects of paternal bonding and cause of death
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Callitrichid responses to dead and dying infants: the effects of paternal bonding and cause of death Cynthia L. Thompson1 · Rebecca Hrit1 · Leonardo C. O. Melo2 · Christopher J. Vinyard3 · Kimberly N. Bottenberg1 · Maria A. B. de Oliveira2 Received: 19 November 2019 / Accepted: 22 April 2020 © Japan Monkey Centre and Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Many primates show responses to dead infants, yet testing explanations for these behaviors has been difficult. Callitrichids present a unique opportunity to delineate between hypotheses, since unlike most species, male caretakers form closer social bonds with infants than mothers. Callitrichids are also known to commit infanticide, leaving obvious wounds that may enable them to more readily recognize death. We present: (1) a case study of a wild common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) group responding to an infant’s natural death, and (2) a review of published infant deaths across callitrichids (N = 16), testing for trends in the sex of reacting individuals and cause of death. In our case study, several group members frequently interacted with the dead infant, attempting to carry it. However, the strongest response was from a male that remained with the corpse for ~ 3 h, despite his group leaving the area. Across callitrichid species, corpse interactions were significantly sex-biased: 100% (N = 6) of accidental deaths involved corpse interaction by males (p = 0.007), compared to 60% (N = 3 of 5) by females (p = 0.095). Cause of death also played a significant role, with individuals attempting to carry dead infants in 100% (N = 6) of accidental deaths, but only 11.1% (N = 1 of 9) of infanticides (p = 0.001). Although the available literature is small and potentially subject to publication biases, these data support the idea that visually obvious wounds may influence callitrichids’ perception of dead conspecifics. Additionally, male-biased patterns of corpse interaction in callitrichids indicate that social bonds likely shape reactions to the dead, in addition to kinship. While published data on primate thanatology are limited, this study demonstrates quantitative approaches that can provide empirical insights into primates’ responses to dead conspecifics. Keywords Thanatology · Marmoset · Death · Infanticide · Animacy detection · Dead-infant carrying · Quantitative methods
Introduction Primates show striking responses to the death of infants. Evolutionary thanatology has recently flourished, with advancements in theory, a movement toward empirical Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-020-00824-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Cynthia L. Thompson [email protected] 1
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, USA
2
Departamento de Morfologia e Fisiologia Animal, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
3
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiolog
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