Infant cradling in a captive mother gorilla

The purpose of the study presented here was to investigate the handedness and cradling preferences of a mother gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) from the Metro Toronto Zoo. The study also examined preferences for handedness for each member of the captive group. Observational data were collected using scan sampling at 60‐sec intervals. Handedness was determined with a coordinated bimanual tube test using peanut butter spread on the interior of a PVC tube. Our findings were largely consistent with the literature on laterality in African apes by documenting a left‐side cradling bias for one apparently ambidextrous captive gorilla mother. This bias was associated with a left head positioning preference by her infant. Although based on a single mother/infant pairing, this study indicates that cradling bias is not always determined by maternal handedness. Zoo Biol 27:420–426, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

秦岭川金丝猴雌性携抱偏好与婴儿吸乳偏好

为了揭示婴儿吸乳偏好以及母猴携抱偏好发育过程,对具有不同生育背景的出生一周的婴儿吸乳偏好和母亲携抱偏好进行了研究。采用扫描取样法,对32 对母婴(7 个初次生育雌性及其婴儿,25 个多次生育雌性及其婴儿)的雌性携抱婴猴偏好行为,及其婴猴的吸乳偏好行为进行了记录。经对比和相关分析检验,结果显示,初次生育雌性的婴儿在吸乳时出现群体水平上的左侧偏好(t₍₆₎ = - 3.731,P = 0.010),再次生育雌性的婴儿没有出现群体水平的吸乳偏好(t₍₂₄₎ = 0.854,P = 0.402);初次生育的雌性会出现群体水平上的左侧携抱偏好(t₍₆₎ = - 3.890,P = 0.008),再次生育的雌性没有群体水平的偏好方向存在(t₍₂₄₎ = 1. 955,P = 0.062);同母婴儿绝大部分(8/9)会出现相反方向的吸乳偏好(N1 = 8,N2 = 1,P = 0.039)。这表明,再次生育经历会影响秦岭川金丝猴新生婴儿的吸乳偏好进而影响雌性的携抱偏好。     

川金丝猴非母亲照料行为的影响因素及其母亲获益——以神农架川金丝猴投食群为例

灵长类社会中存在着非母亲成员（成年雌猴、青少年猴和成年雄猴）对婴儿的照料行为,即非母亲照料行为,该行为直接影响新生婴儿的存活与发育以及婴儿母亲的日常活动,是灵长类学研究领域的热点问题。本研究于2019年3月至2019年11月,采用焦点动物取样和瞬时扫描取样,探究了川金丝猴非母亲照料行为的影响因素及其对母亲活动分配的影响。结果表明：非母亲照料行为时长与婴猴月龄呈负相关;非母亲照料行为与照料者性别和生育经验有关,与婴猴性别和出生先后无关;当非母亲照料婴猴时,母亲的取食和理毛时长明显增加。研究结果支持学习育幼假说和母亲压力缓解假说,非母亲成员积极照料婴猴既能学习到育幼经验,又能帮助母亲获得更多取食时间,满足母亲的清洁和社交需求。     

Effects of motherhood on physiological and subjective responses to infant cries in teenage mothers: a comparison with non-mothers and adult mothers

The present study was designed to determine whether becoming a mother during the adolescent period changes maternal responsiveness or maternal motivation, assessed through hormonal, autonomic, and hedonic responses to recorded infant cries and interactions with their babies. Fifty-six teen mothers were compared to 58 teen non-mothers and 49 adult mothers. Teen mothers reported more sympathy and alertness in response to recorded infant cries compared to non -mother teens; however, among the teen women there were no differences between mothers and non-mothers in heart rate and cortisol responses to infant cries. In contrast, in comparison to adult mothers, teen mothers reported the same levels of sympathy and alertness to infant cries; however, adult mothers showed an 'alerted' pattern of heart rate and cortisol response to infant cries not seen in the teen mother group. Inclusion of the covariate, fathers' employment classification as an index of SES or time of testing and cortisol sampling did not affect this pattern of results. Taken together, these results show that where self-report is used as a measure of maternal responsiveness, teen mothers are no different in responsiveness than adult mothers; however, where physiological and interactional measures of responsiveness are considered, teen mothers are less likely to show heightened or selective responses to infant cries or respond 'attentively' to the infant.     

神农架川金丝猴投食群0-6月龄的母亲照顾行为

与其它哺乳动物相比,灵长类动物的一个最典型的特征就是婴儿在出生之后完全没有独立生活能力,处于这个时期的动物非常软弱(Nicolson,1987)。在这段发育期内,必须依靠社群内成年或亚成年个体的照顾才能顺利存活,尤其是来自母亲的照顾,母亲通过哺乳提供给它们成长所需要的营养,并通过限制行为实施保护,同时教会婴儿基本的生存技能,为今后能更好地融入社群做好充足准     

A case study of primiparous maternal and infant gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) behavior

A primiparous mother and her infant were subjects of a longitudinal behavioral study at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois. From November 1998 to November 1999, we collected a total of 100 hr of focal nonhuman animal instantaneous point sampling and all occurrence data on the mother and her infant. After 8 months, we introduced the 4-member focal group to an 8-member gorilla group, thus providing an opportunity to study the effect of the introduction on mother-infant behavior. Overall, time the pair spent physically apart was notably high with contact and proximate scores steadily decreasing over time. The infant was largely responsible for maintaining social proximity, rarely leaving the mother and frequently approaching her. In contrast, the mother left the infant frequently and approached the infant minimally. Maternal affiliative and nonaffiliative behaviors fluctuated throughout the study. Over time, both decreased. Despite a precarious maternal relationship, infant developmental trends were typical for captive gorillas. The results of this study suggest that allowing flexibility in judging maternal conduct can be of benefit to successful gorilla husbandry.     

A Case Study of Primiparous Maternal and Infant Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) Behavior

A primiparous mother and her infant were subjects of a longitudinal behavioral study at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois. From November 1998 to November 1999, we collected a total of 100 hr of focal nonhuman animal instantaneous point sampling and all occurrence data on the mother and her infant. After 8 months, we introduced the 4-member focal group to an 8-member gorilla group, thus providing an opportunity to study the effect of the introduction on mother-infant behavior. Overall, time the pair spent physically apart was notably high with contact and proximate scores steadily decreasing over time. The infant was largely responsible for maintaining social proximity, rarely leaving the mother and frequently approaching her. In contrast, the mother left the infant frequently and approached the infant minimally. Maternal affiliative and nonaffiliative behaviors fluctuated throughout the study. Over time, both decreased. Despite a precarious maternal relationship, infant developmental trends were typical for captive gorillas. The results of this study suggest that allowing flexibility in judging maternal conduct can be of benefit to successful gorilla husbandry.     

Neonatal nipple preference and maternal cradling laterality in wild Taihangshan macaques (Macaca mulatta tcheliensis)

Lateralized behavior is considered an observable phenotype of cerebral functional asymmetry and has been documented in many mammalian species. In the present study, we examined evidence of lateralization in neonatal nipple contact, maternal cradling, and the relationship between these two behaviors during the first 12 weeks of life in wild Taihangshan macaques (Macaca mulatta tcheliensis). The results showed that across our sample of nine mother–infant dyads: (1) Seven of nine neonates exhibited a significant left-side nipple preference during the first 12 weeks of life, whereas eight of nine mothers displayed a significant right-side cradling preference; (2) at the population level, there was a significant preference for left nipple contact by neonatal Taihangshan macaques and a significant right-hand maternal cradling preference; (3) at the population level, there was a nonsignificant negative correlation between neonatal nipple preference and maternal cradling bias; and (4) the strength of individual neonatal nipple preference and maternal cradling laterality were not correlated. We conclude that asymmetry in nipple contact of Taihangshan macaques occurs early in behavioral development. Given that infant Taihangshan macaques are able to nurse and cling unassisted to their mothers within a few days after birth, it appears that the infant rather than its mother is responsible for determining a nipple-side preference. Our results indicating a left-side nipple bias in 78% of wild neonatal Taihangshan macaques are most consistent with the heartbeat hypothesis.     

Male parenting and response to infant stimuli in the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus)

Callithrix jacchus infants are raised in complex family environments where most members participate in rearing the young. Many studies examining male parental behavior have focused on the carrying of infants with observations made within the family context. However, interference from family members can make it difficult to assess the father's motivation to care for infants. Our goals were to develop a testing paradigm for determining an individual's response to infant stimuli separate from family influences, compare a male's motivation to respond to an infant stimulus outside the family with his paternal behavior within the family, to compare responses to infant stimuli of parentally experienced versus inexperienced males and finally to develop a reproducible and standardized method of testing male responsiveness to infant stimulus that could serve to evaluate hormonal manipulations. Fifteen experienced common marmoset fathers were evaluated using three different measures of parental behavior: (1) instantaneous scan sampling, (2) continuous focal sampling in the family, and (3) continuous focal sampling of males presented with four infant stimuli: familiar and unfamiliar infants, familiar and unfamiliar infant vocalizations. Six parentally inexperienced males (non-fathers) served as controls. Males that carried the most in the family were typically the same males that responded most to the infant vocalization tests. Experienced fathers did not differ in their latency to enter the stimulus cage for any of the four infant stimuli response tests while inexperienced males took significantly longer to enter the stimulus cage. In addition, fathers expressed a greater frequency of infant-directed behavior than did the inexperienced males during the unfamiliar infant and unfamiliar vocalization tests. These studies show that experienced male marmosets are highly motivated to interact with infant stimuli and that there is interindividual variability in response to infant vocalizations. Testing males outside of the family allows for a clear assessment of male's interest in infant stimuli in both parentally experienced fathers and inexperienced males.     

Observation time and sampling intervals for measuring behavior and interactions of chimpanzees in the wild

This study examined two problems in the measurement of chimpanzee behavior: (1) comparability among data sets varying in length of total observation time; and (2) the longest interval for scoring reliable numbers of sample points with instantaneous sampling (this required procedures for evaluating the chi-square statistics of the sampled data). During a 4.5-month field study conducted at the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania, one adult male was observed as a focal animal for about 300 hr with continuous recording. His behavior was classified into five categories. Data sets varying in total time were prepared by extraction from the raw data. Comparability among the data sets was evaluated using Pearson's correlation coefficients and Kendall's coefficients of concordance calculated from two kinds of measures obtained from the raw and simulated data sets: (a) the percentages of time spent by the focal animal in each behavior category; and (b) those of the time spent by adult males in his proximity. The results revealed that observation time of 25 hr was the critical length for scoring the above measures reliably. Sample points for the focal animal's behavior categories and for adult males in his proximity were simulated with intervals of various lengths for data sets differing in total time. The longest interval was measured by comparing the simulated scores with confidence limits calculated for the number of sample points to be scored with the respective intervals. It was found that the interval for sampling should be set at 3 min or shorter, and that chi-square statistics calculated from the data sampled with such an interval should be evaluated after their modification into the values to be obtained from the data sampled with a 5-min interval. These results may not be directly applicable to studies dealing with other behavior categories, other age/sex classes of focal animals, etc. However, the above problems should be examined widely in studies attempting to measure animal behavior, and the methods employed in this study are applicable to such studies.     

Neonatal interactions in pig-tailed macque (M. nemestrina) dyads: Influence on rearing success,infant weight change and behavioral response to reunion with mother

This research assessed the significance of variation in dyadic neonatal interaction for subsequent infant development in pig-tailed macaques. Adult females were selected which differed in parity and reproductive risk. The 29 dyads were housed individually to reduce external environmental influences. Large variation was observed in maternal and neonatal behavior, but it was not significantly associated with maternal or infant risk variables and could not identify six unsuccessfully reared pairs. Among the 23 successfully reared dyads, variation in nutritional and behavioral measures hypothesized to be associated with infant growth were found to be independent of neonatal weight gain. These 23 infants were separated from their mothers after 30 days and their responses at reunion were observed. Some infants clung to the mother's ventrum (attached response) while others jumped away quickly (aloof response). Prior dyadic interactions were not significantly associated with this dichotomous response, nor were maternal and most infant variables. These results suggest that dyads at risk for neonate separation when living in captive groups are not necessarily at risk in individual housing conditions. Further, pig-tailed neonates appear unaffected by variations in mother-infant interactions that do not result in separation, but neonatal characteristics may show continuity across development.     

Infant kidnapping and co-mothering in Japanese macaques

The fatal kidnapping of a Japanese macaque infant is described. Kidnapping was followed by a long period (10 weeks) of co-mothering. Quantitative recording showed that both the biological mother (a 8-year-old, low-ranking, multiparous female) and the kidnapper (a 4-year-old, high-ranking female with no maternal experience) displayed an affectionate style of mothering and never responded negatively to the infant's demands for contact. Given the large maternal investment on the part of the kidnapper, we suggest that the fatal outcome for the infant was not the result of reproductive competition. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Effects of Temporal Sampling Patterns of All-occurrence Recording in Behavioural Studies: Many Short Sampling Periods Are Better than a Few Long Ones

All-occurrence recording is generally thought to yield unbiased results. However, its accuracy and power to detect real effects may depend on the temporal patterning of the observation periods. Although several studies evaluated the suitability of time-sampling methods (one-zero and instantaneous sampling), there has not been an evaluation of various temporal patterns of the ‘all-occurrence’ method to date. Here we present an empirical comparison of time-sampling and all-occurrence recording methods, based on a large data set, with special reference to various temporal patterns of all-occurrence recording. The three different sampling methods were imposed on raw data protocols. The scores, obtained by the use of each method and temporal pattern, were compared with true values from the corresponding continuous video recordings. The accuracy and power of each method was estimated by comparison of medians and magnitudes of effect (r_m), respectively. We were able to confirm results of earlier studies on the suitability of time-sampling methods (one-zero and instantaneous sampling), but we found that different temporal patterns of all-occurrence sampling yielded magnitudes of effect that differed from true value magnitudes. We conclude that behavioural studies may reveal different results, even when all conditions are the same, only because of power differences of different temporal pattern of the observation periods, for example 1 × 15 min versus 15 × 1 min. Recommendations are made about appropriate application of methods.     

扎龙保护区丹顶鹤繁殖行为观察

采用瞬时扫描取样法、焦点动物取样法和所有事件取样法对扎龙国家级自然保护区内野生状态下丹顶鹤繁殖行为进行了观察。结果显示 ,野生丹顶鹤的繁殖行为占观察时间的 38 1 4% ,是其繁殖期耗时最多的行为。在整个繁殖期 ,依次出现的繁殖行为是求偶 ( 1 0 3% )、交配 ( 0 41 % )、筑巢 ( 3 85 % )、产卵 ( 0 2 3% )、孵化 ( 72 32 % )、育雏 ( 2 2 1 5 % ) ,孵化和育雏不呈现明显的节律性。在孵化过程中有明显的换孵规律。方差分析表明 ,降水因素对丹顶鹤的筑巢 (F =1 0 84,P <0 0 1 )和孵化 (F =1 0 7 46,P <0 0 1 )有极显著影响 ;温度因素对求偶 (F =8 76,P <0 0 1 )、交配 (F =9 5 3,P <0 0 1 )、筑巢 (F =1 3 80 ,P <0 0 1 )、孵化 (F =2 2 3 70 ,P <0 0 1 )和育雏 (F =2 5 80 ,P <0 0 1 )有极显著影响     

Reported maternal tendencies predict the reward value of infant facial cuteness,but not cuteness detection

The factors that contribute to individual differences in the reward value of cute infant facial characteristics are poorly understood. Here we show that the effect of cuteness on a behavioural measure of the reward value of infant faces is greater among women reporting strong maternal tendencies. By contrast, maternal tendencies did not predict women''s subjective ratings of the cuteness of these infant faces. These results show, for the first time, that the reward value of infant facial cuteness is greater among women who report being more interested in interacting with infants, implicating maternal tendencies in individual differences in the reward value of infant cuteness. Moreover, our results indicate that the relationship between maternal tendencies and the reward value of infant facial cuteness is not due to individual differences in women''s ability to detect infant cuteness. This latter result suggests that individual differences in the reward value of infant cuteness are not simply a by-product of low-cost, functionless biases in the visual system.     

Ear asymmetry and left-side cradling

Women and girls tend to cradle infants and dolls on the left side of the body. Left-sided cradling is found in chimpanzees and gorillas, is cross-cultural and present in historical works of art, and is transmitted down the human maternal line. One explanation for the left-cradling tendency is that it facilitates the flow of affective information from the infant via the left ear and eye to the center for emotional decoding, that is, the right hemisphere of the mother. We show that the developmental stability of the ear, as measured by ear asymmetry, is negatively correlated with the left-sided cradling tendency. Left-cradling English women holding infants and Jamaican girls holding dolls had a strong tendency to show lower ear asymmetry than right cradlers, whereas no such relationship was found in boys nor for various measures of asymmetry of the hand, with the possible exception of the wrist in Jamaican girls. Degree of handedness, as measured by the Annett peg-moving test, did not predict cradling preference in the Jamaican children, and the relationship between ear asymmetry and cradling preference was independent of hand preference. Our results suggest that developmental instability of the ear (including the pinna, external auditory meatus, and middle ear) may interfere with the flow of affective information to the right hemisphere. Ear asymmetry also showed evidence of strong maternal but not paternal transmission. It is suggested that between-individual variation of in utero stress may explain patterns of maternal transmission of lateral cradling tendencies.     

Optimal behaviour sampling and autocorrelation curve: modelling data of farmed foxes

Behavioural investigations frequently make use of video recordings. In a typical study, behaviour is recorded during a 24-h period using instantaneous sampling, a method whereby consecutive samples taken from the same animal are autocorrelated. This study sought to model the autocorrelation function and to evaluate the optimal sampling interval for recording periods of different length in farmed blue foxes. The data were based on video recordings. The autocorrelation was found to have two components: short-range and long-range. The range of the short-range component was from 2 to 4 min, implying that an animal continues the same operation without interruption for several minutes. The duration of the long-range component was from 20 to 75 min and was affected by the animals mental state. The optimal sampling interval was not the same for all the behaviours studied and, moreover, depended on the length of the recording period. If the recording period lasted for 3 to 5 days, the optimal sampling interval was from 10 to 15 min; if, however, there was only one recording day, the optimal sampling interval was from 4 to 6 min.     

基于不同分析和取样方法研究褪黑激素对育成期母貂行为分配的影响

本文基于不同分析和取样方法研究褪黑激素对育成期母貂行为分配的影响。从貂场中随机选取当年出生的6只未埋植褪黑激素、6只埋植褪黑激素的美国短毛黑母貂。采用高清摄像头分别在埋植褪黑激素后的第30天（Ⅰ期）、第60天（Ⅱ期）、第75天（Ⅲ期）记录所有水貂的行为。埋植褪黑激素对水貂行为分配的影响,混合线性模型（mixed linear model,MLM）和广义线性混合模型（generalized linear mixed model,GLMM）对于水貂的位置、采食、修饰、异常和饮水行为的分析结果不同,广义线性混合模型的分析结果更符合褪黑激素已知的作用效果;瞬时取样间隔≤1.5 min时,水貂的所有行为比例与连续取样无显著差异（P>0.05）。由此可以推断,广义线性混合模型更适合无法正态化的实验数据的分析;采用瞬时扫描取样法研究水貂行为分配,扫描时间间隔以1.5 min为宜。     

Behavioural responses of captive hippopotamus(hippopotamus amphibius)in lactation season:Maternal investment and plasticity of infant self-independence

In order to promote hippopotamus management in the captive and ex-situ environment, especially the control of behavioural and physiological status during breeding and lactation seasons, we conducted a preliminary study on behavioural responses of a pair of hippos including both mother and infant in Hangzhou Wildlife Park, China. The study of the captive hippos for about 1-month in the lactation season was carried out during August and September, 2009. The behavioural patterns were identified by all occurrence sampling and instantaneous scanning sampling methods with 5-10 min intervals. As a result, mother-offspring conflicts and interactions did occur throughout the whole study period. Early maternal investment showed a positive trend in activity rhythms (slope = 0.0014, Z = 0.3027, P ＜0.001) and a negative trend (slope = -0.0066, Z = 0.8807, P＜0.001) in territorial occupation of water, all of which supported our hypotheses that the mother hippo might exert less care for the infant and cut down on her own obligations in nursing. For infant self-independence, during the whole lactation season, the primary trends of activities and territorial occupation dynamics of the infant hippo were slightly different from before, judging from linear models (slope = -0.0017, Z = 0. 3309, P＜0.001). However, the frequencies of activities were not stable, especially at around 12 days of age. The trends of territorial occupation (slope = -0.0071, Z= 0. 904, P＜0.001) also showed negative dynamics in water body occupation by the time the infant hippo grew up. The general trend (slope = -0.005, Z = 0.06, P＜0.001) of suckling dynamics was demonstrably negative, with an upwards fluctuation at period 3 (10-15th day). This also illustrated that as the infant developed, the dependency on the mother was reduced at the end of the lactation season. In addition, a sharp decline between P3 and P4 also supported the mother-offspring conflict theory. In general, time budgets of hippos in active behaviour were (31.8±2.1)% for the mother and (32.1 ±2.6)% for the infant. Spatial distributions in water within temporal limitations were (80.1 ±2.7)% for the mother and (81.8±2.7)% for the infant. Behavioural dynamics showed strong synchronous relations between maternal investment and infant independence. Our current short-term investigation proves to be a key in management and conservation of hippopotami during the lactation season.     

Plasma cortisol and faecal cortisol metabolites concentrations in stereotypic and non-stereotypic horses: do stereotypic horses cope better with poor environmental conditions?

Background

Stereotypic behaviours, i.e. repetitive behaviours induced by frustration, repeated attempts to cope and/or brain dysfunction, are intriguing as they occur in a variety of domestic and captive species without any clear adaptive function. Among the different hypotheses, the coping hypothesis predicts that stereotypic behaviours provide a way for animals in unfavourable environmental conditions to adjust. As such, they are expected to have a lower physiological stress level (glucocorticoids) than non-stereotypic animals. Attempts to link stereotypic behaviours with glucocorticoids however have yielded contradictory results. Here we investigated correlates of oral and motor stereotypic behaviours and glucocorticoid levels in two large samples of domestic horses (N _Study1 = 55, N _Study2 = 58), kept in sub-optimal conditions (e.g. confinement, social isolation), and already known to experience poor welfare states. Each horse was observed in its box using focal sampling (study 1) and instantaneous scan sampling (study 2). Plasma samples (collected in study 1) but also non-invasive faecal samples (collected in both studies) were retrieved in order to assess cortisol levels.

Results

Results showed that 1) plasma cortisol and faecal cortisol metabolites concentrations did not differ between horses displaying stereotypic behaviours and non-stereotypic horses and 2) both oral and motor stereotypic behaviour levels did not predict plasma cortisol or faecal cortisol metabolites concentrations.

Conclusions

Cortisol measures, collected in two large samples of horses using both plasma sampling as well as faecal sampling (the latter method minimizing bias due to a non-invasive sampling procedure), therefore do not indicate that stereotypic horses cope better, at least in terms of adrenocortical activity.