Neonatal abandonment in Japanese macaques.
This study analyzed long-term demographic data relative to a captive colony of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in order to evaluate factors predicting increased probability of infant neonatal abandonment. Overall, 7.7% of liveborn infants were abandoned at birth. Probability of abandonment was significantly increased in primiparous and, to a lesser extent, low-ranking mothers. Primiparous mothers abandoned about 40% of their infants at birth. Mother age and infant sex had no independent effects on the probability of neonatal abandonment. Primiparous mothers that did not abandon their infants suffered increased infant mortality and showed longer interbirth intervals compared to same-age multiparous mothers. These results are partially consistent with adaptive hypotheses predicting maternal divestment under unfavorable conditions, and with proximate explanations linking abandonment to inexperience and stress.
Schino
Gabriele
G
Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 00197 Rome, Italy. gschino@casaccia.enea.it
Troisi
Alfonso
A
D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D001721:Birth Intervals; D005260:Female; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D016015:Logistic Models; D008251:Macaca / Q000502:physiology*; D008423:Maternal Age; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D012737:Sex Factors