Pregnancy weight gain: marmoset and tamarin dads show it too.
Paternal behaviour is critical for the survival of offspring in many monogamous species. Common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) and cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus) fathers spend as much or more time caring for infants than mothers. Expectant males of both species showed significant increases in weight across the pregnancy whereas control males did not (five consecutive months for marmoset males and six months for cotton-top tamarin males). Expectant fathers might be preparing for the energetic cost of fatherhood by gaining weight during their mate's pregnancy.
Ziegler
Toni E
TE
Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, Madison, WI 53715, USA. ziegler@primate.wisc.edu
Prudom
Shelley L
SL
Schultz-Darken
Nancy J
NJ
Kurian
Aimee V
AV
Snowdon
Charles T
CT
D000818:Animals; D002144:Callithrix; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D012452:Saguinus; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology*