Adoptions of unrelated infants in wild Taihangshan macaques (<i>Macaca mulatta tcheliensis</i>), Jiyuan, north China.

ABSTRACT: Infant-care behavior, a range of caring behaviors by parental or alloparental individuals towards infants unable to live independently, plays a significant role in the survival of infants and the continuation of the species in non-human primates. During a behavioral ecological study of Taihangshan macaques, we observed 2 cases of infant adoptions by unrelated adult females. In case 1, a multiparous female adopted a lost infant from a neighboring group, with the infant being snatched back by her biological mother 35 days after the adoption. This is the first report of cross-group adoption in Maca ca. In case 2, a nulliparous adult female, who had been once adopted by her elder sister, adopted an orphan from her group for 36 days. We describe the details of adoptions in Taihang

SUBMITTER: Han M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12011479 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature