Adoption by captive parturient rhesus macaques

Biological vs. adopted infants and the cost of being a “twin” and rearing “twins”

Bibliographic Data

ID22899174
AuthorsJulie A Ellsworth (University of Nevada, Reno, corresponding author), Christopher Andersen (0000-0002-1723-7990, Columbia University)
Year1997
Volume43
Issue3
Pages259-264
Publication date1997-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Primatology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0275-2565 • E-ISSN: 1098-2345
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/(sici)1098-2345(1997)43:3<259::aid-ajp5>3.0.co;2-w
PMID9359968
OpenAlexW1969881100
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited9

Four rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) mothers each spontaneously adopted and reared an abandoned, unrelated neonate in addition to their own neonate. Data on relative time spent in maternal contact and who maintained proximity were collected for the biological and adopted "twins" and singleton control infants using focal animal sampling. Infant weight gain and the subsequent conception history for each mother were obtained for the following year. Biological infants spent more time in maternal contact than their adopted "twin" siblings. When in contact with their mothers, biological "twins" spent more time in the ventro-ventral position and more ventral time alone than adoptees. Mothers initiated more contacts with their biological infants than their adopted infants, suggesting these differences may be due to differential maternal behavior. "Twins" gained weight at a slower rate than singletons, and mothers rearing "twins" produced significantly fewer offspring the following season.

Biology · Body contact · Developmental psychology · Macaque · Offspring · Pregnancy · Primate · Rhesus macaque · Animal Behavior and Reproduction · Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior · Demography · Ecology · Physiology · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Psychology

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