Non-offspring nursing by a nulliparous pregnant female just before first parturition in free-ranging Japanese macaques.
A nulliparous pregnant Japanese macaque, Macaca fuscata, suckled her 1-year-old sister 44 days before her own parturition. Other Japanese macaque yearlings did not hold the nipples of this nulliparous female in their mouths. Although this non-offspring nursing before first parturition did not improve the rate of milk secretion, the nulliparous female may have improved her indirect fitness and her suckling behavior.
Tanaka
Ichirou
I
Faculty of Environmental and Informational Science, Yokkaichi University, 1200 Kayo-cho, Yokkaichi, Mie 512-8512, Japan. itanaka@yokkaichi-u.ac.jp
D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007564:Japan; D007774:Lactation / Q000502:physiology*; D008251:Macaca / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D014741:Video Recording