Communal nesting, kinship, and maternal success in a social primate

Baden, Andrea L.; Wright, Patricia C.; Louis, Edward E.; Bradley, Brenda J.

doi:10.1007/s00265-013-1601-y

Cited by 63 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…marmosets and tamarins, Callitrichidae [14]; siamangs, Sy. syndactylus [31,32]; black-and-white ruffed lemurs, V. variegata [27]). Even though we did not find that receipt of alloparenting was positively correlated with the amount of time that mothers spent feeding, those mothers whose infants were handled more could still have benefited because they could forage more efficiently and thereby increase their net energy gain when they were not encumbered by infants and/or because they expend less energy on carrying young [6,10,12,15,31,32].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alloparenting can also differentially affect the fitness of mothers among and within populations of the same species because the rates and types of interactions are not always consistent across individuals (e.g. meerkats, S. suricatta [26]; sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus [4]; black-and-white ruffed lemurs, Varecia variegata [27]; humans, H. sapiens [28]). In some cases, alloparenting may seemingly have no direct fitness benefits to mothers (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…vervets, Chlorocebus pygerythrus [11]; siamangs, Symphalangus syndactylus [31,32]; black-and-white ruffed lemurs, V. variegata [27]). While alloparenting frequencies, types of interactions and the individuals involved are well documented in many primate taxa, the adaptive value of alloparenting remains understudied and unresolved [8,33].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alloparenting is associated with reduced maternal lactation effort and faster weaning in wild chimpanzees

et al. 2016

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Alloparenting, when individuals other than the mother assist with infant care, can vary between and within populations and has potential fitness costs and benefits for individuals involved. We investigated the effects of alloparenting on the speed with which infants were weaned, a potential component of maternal fitness because of how it can affect inter-birth intervals, in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) at Ngogo, Uganda. We also provide, to our knowledge, the first description of alloparenting in this population and present a novel measure of the contribution of milk to infant diets through faecal stable nitrogen isotopes (δ15N). Using 42 mother–infant pairs, we tested associations of two alloparenting dimensions, natal attraction (interest in infants) and infant handling (holding, carrying), to the proportion of time mothers spent feeding and to maternal lactation effort (mean nursing rates and mother–infant δ15N differences). Neither natal attraction nor infant handling was significantly associated with feeding time. Infant handling was inversely associated with both measures of lactation effort, although natal attraction showed no association. Alloparenting may benefit mothers by enabling females to invest in their next offspring sooner through accelerated weaning. Our findings emphasize the significance of alloparenting as a flexible component of female reproductive strategies in some species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alloparenting is associated with reduced maternal lactation effort and faster weaning in wild chimpanzees

et al. 2016

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“…The birds preferred nest sites that had been previously occupied, or that were in proximity to nests where conspecifics had high breeding success in previous years, and for locales that were surrounded by active nests. Unfortunately, due to the infrequent and unpredictable nature of ruffed lemur reproduction (Baden et al, ; Vasey, ), I was unable to consider long‐term social variables in my analyses. Future work will consider whether nest site characteristics, allomaternal help, or a combination of the two contribute to the survival of infants and lifetime reproductive success of mothers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alternatively, multiple nest building may be a strategy to avoid predator attraction either by allowing females to regularly transfer infants among nests (e.g., because feces may attract predators by its odor or appearance, Petit et al 1989; but see Soanes, Peters, Delhey, & Doody, ) or as way to allow mothers to adjust nest use and opportunistically avoid certain nests altogether (e.g., due to the unexpected arrival of a predator to the area or a shift in the dominant predator type, as described by Beckmann and Martin (). Unfortunately, the predator avoidance hypothesis is also among the most difficult to test because predation events are rare and difficult to observe (Stanford, ) and experimentally manipulating nesting behaviors is ill‐advised in a Critically Endangered species with a slow, unpredictable breeding pattern (Baden et al, ). In future studies, it would be interesting to compare patterns of nest building during years with and without predation events (e.g., whether females vacillate between multiple and single nest construction in times with and without predator threat, respectively) to further test whether this hypothesis garners support.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A description of nesting behaviors, including factors impacting nest site selection, in black‐and‐white ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata)

Baden

2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Nest site selection is at once fundamental to reproduction and a poorly understood component of many organisms’ reproductive investment. This study investigates the nesting behaviors of black‐and‐white ruffed lemurs, Varecia variegata, a litter‐bearing primate from the southeastern rainforests of Madagascar. Using a combination of behavioral, geospatial, and demographic data, I test the hypotheses that environmental and social cues influence nest site selection and that these decisions ultimately impact maternal reproductive success. Gestating females built multiple large nests throughout their territories. Of these, females used only a fraction of the originally constructed nests, as well as several parking locations as infants aged. Nest construction was best predicted by environmental cues, including the size of the nesting tree and density of feeding trees within a 75 m radius of the nest, whereas nest use depended largely on the size and average distance to feeding trees within that same area. Microhabitat characteristics were unrelated to whether females built or used nests. Although unrelated to nest site selection, social cues, specifically the average distance to conspecifics’ nest and park sites, were related to maternal reproductive success; mothers whose litters were parked in closer proximity to others’ nests experienced higher infant survival than those whose nests were more isolated. This is likely because nesting proximity facilitated communal crèche use by neighboring females. Together, these results suggest a complex pattern of nesting behaviors that involves females strategically building nests in areas with high potential resource abundance, using nests in areas according to their realized productivity, and communally rearing infants within a network of nests distributed throughout the larger communal territory.

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Primate Allomaternal Care

Tecot

Baden

2015

Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences

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Allomaternal care (AMC) (i.e., infant care that is provided by group members other than an infant's mother) is a rare, although phylogenetically widespread, mammalian infant care strategy. In primates, however, AMC occurs at unusually high frequencies, particularly among several haplorhine (monkey and ape) taxa. In fact, AMC is present in every major primate radiation and has been described in 74% of 154 species for which data are available. Its widespread presence in the Order Primates suggests that there may have been strong selective pressure for AMC early in primate evolution, but it is currently unknown why these behaviors are so common in primates. Research focused on captive callitrichids (tamarins and marmosets) has contributed greatly to our understanding of the potential causes and consequences of highly derived forms of AMC (i.e., cooperative breeding). Recent efforts have shifted focus to understand the selective pressures leading to the expansion and diversification of AMC throughout the Primate Order, thus expanding research to investigate the causes and consequences of less derived forms of AMC. Here we review the broad‐scale patterns observed in primates and outline innovative and exciting avenues of research moving forward.

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Communal nesting, kinship, and maternal success in a social primate

Cited by 63 publications

References 90 publications

Alloparenting is associated with reduced maternal lactation effort and faster weaning in wild chimpanzees

Alloparenting is associated with reduced maternal lactation effort and faster weaning in wild chimpanzees

A description of nesting behaviors, including factors impacting nest site selection, in black‐and‐white ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata)

Primate Allomaternal Care

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