Mother-infant relationships in Vervet Monkeys: Response to new adult males |
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Authors: | L A Fairbanks M T McGuire |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, 90024 Los Angeles, California;(2) Sepulveda Veterans Administration Medical Center, 91343 Sepulveda, California |
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Abstract: | The reaction of mothers to replacement of breeding adult males was studied in two captive groups of vervet monkeys. Mother-infant
behavior for 15 infants born in the season following the introduction of new males was compared to mother-infant behavior
for 35 infants born with adult males that had been resident in the group for more than a year. The mothers responded to the
presence of new males by being more protective toward their infants in the first 3 months. Increased protectiveness disappeared
in the second 3 months, and in the infant’s sixth month of life mothers with new males in the group became more rejecting
than mothers with long-term resident males. The combination of increased protectiveness and increased rejection was unusual
among the mothers with long-term resident males but was the most common mothering style used in the presence of new males.
The rate of rejection was inversely correlated with the interbirth interval, and mothers with new males in the group conceived
sooner and had significantly shorter inter-birth intervals compared to mothers with long-term resident males. |
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Keywords: | mother-infant relationship Cercopithecus aethiops mothering style interbirth interval infanticide |
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