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5. Interactions of adult male and infants in macaques and baboons (comparative study)

Interactions of adult male and infants in macaques and baboons (comparative study)

Lipina Y., Meishvili N., Chalyan V.

Institute of Medical Primatology RAMS, Sochi-Adler

Lipina Y., e-mail: acinonyx@lenta.ru; Meishvili N.G., e-mail: natela_prim@list.ru; Chalyan V.G., e-mail: vg_chalyan@mail.ru

Abstract

Parental care is mostly unusual for mammalian males and it is basically associated with monogamy. In primates, intensive paternal care is also closely associated with monogamy but it is not always connected with genetic paternity. The male’s care not only raises the infants’ survival rate but also makes bonds between male and female more stable. It is most typical for multimale primate societies where it is almost impossible for any male to determine if the infant is his own offspring or not. The study was carried out in monkeys of some species housed in Adler Primatological Centre at the Institute of Medical Primatology RAMS. There were rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis), pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina), hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) and anubis baboons (Papio anubis). The groups we investigated consisted of one or more adult males, residenting there at least one year, and one or more infants from 2 weeks till 1 year old. For our investigation we used standard ethological and statistical methods. Altogether, the attitude in 44.5% of all males towards infants was absolutely indifferent. The most high interaction rate was shown in crab-eating macaques, the lowest one – in anubis baboons. The most frequent affiliative interactions were noted in both baboon species, but pig-tailed macaques did not shown such behavior at all. Cumulative aggression towards infants was maximum in crab-eating and pig-tailed macaques, and the rest of species showed rather equal but halved level. The infants’ survival rate was 81.12% in rhesus monkeys, 82.54% in crab-eating macaques, 58.66% in pig-tailed macaques, 73.24% in hamadryas and 79.03% in anubis baboons. Thus, we have found out that monkey males must choose tactics of their behavior towards infants in compliance with various factors with their own individuality and towards each infant individually.

Keywords

anthropology, primatology, macaques, baboons, males, infants, survival rate, parental behavior

Цит.: Lipina Y., Meishvili N., Chalyan V. Interactions of adult male and infants in macaques and baboons (comparative study) // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2014; 2/2014; с. 99-108