異母照顧文章

異母照顧文章
Original Article
Folia Primatol 2015;86:491–505
DOI: 10.1159/000443307
Non-Maternal Infant Handling in Wild
Formosan Macaques of Mount Longevity,
Taiwan
Minna J. Hsu a Shu-I Lin a Jin-Fu Lin a Tai-Jung Lin b
Govindasamy Agoramoorthy b
a Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung , and
b College of Pharmacy and Health Care, Tajen University, Pingtung , Taiwan, ROC
Key Words
Macaca cyclopis · Allomothering · Sex differences · Grooming · Mother-infant
relationship
Abstract
In this paper, we present quantitative data on how the social network and sex of
infants influence allomothering behaviour among wild Formosan macaques, Macaca
cyclopis . Using long-term field data collected from the Mount Longevity study site in
Kaohsiung (Taiwan), we have tested relevant hypotheses incorporating data on age,
rank and reproductive state of infant handlers, and the relationship between handlers
and infants. The results support 2 major hypotheses, i.e. those of reciprocity and alliance
formation. Nevertheless, neither could account for the observed occurrences of unrelated
infant handling by dominant females. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel
Introduction
Allomothering or allomaternal care is the handling of infants by individuals other
than the mother, and this unique behaviour occurs widely in the order Primates
[Isler and van Schaik, 2012] and has been described in 74% of 154 species to date
[Chism, 2000; Tecot and Baden, 2015]. In addition to non-human primates, this behaviour
occurs in various other species of animals as well [Hrdy, 1976; Riedman,
1982; Kohda, 1985; Lee, 1987; Emlen et al., 1991; Packer et al., 1992; Stanford, 1992;
Ivey, 2000; Förster and Cords, 2005; Dugdale et al., 2010]. The adaptive significance
has been of considerable interest among zoologists [Mitani and Watts, 1997; Solomon
and French, 1997; Ross and MacLarnon, 2000; Meredith, 2015]; therefore, various