Comparison of infant care in family groups of the common marmoset (<i>Callithrix jacchus</i>) and the cotton‐top tamarin (<i>Saguinus oedipus</i>)

Tardif, S. D.; Carson, Robert L.; Gangaware, Barbara L.

doi:10.1002/ajp.1350110202

Cited by 67 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The partitioning of our subject pool into male and female helpers as well as male and female breeders was justified by an additional analysis using regression models and an information theoretic approach to model selection [see supporting information (SI) Text and SI Tables 1 and 2]. A lack of prosociality in female helpers is consistent with some naturalistic observations indicating that female helpers engage less in infant carrying (28)(29)(30).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 55%

Other-regarding preferences in a non-human primate: Common marmosets provision food altruistically

Burkart

Fehr

Efferson

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

310

314

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Human cooperation is unparalleled in the animal world and rests on an altruistic concern for the welfare of genetically unrelated strangers. The evolutionary roots of human altruism, however, remain poorly understood. Recent evidence suggests a discontinuity between humans and other primates because individual chimpanzees do not spontaneously provide food to other group members, indicating a lack of concern for their welfare. Here, we demonstrate that common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) do spontaneously provide food to nonreciprocating and genetically unrelated individuals, indicating that other-regarding preferences are not unique to humans and that their evolution did not require advanced cognitive abilities such as theory of mind. Because humans and marmosets are cooperative breeders and the only two primate taxa in which such unsolicited prosociality has been found, we conclude that these prosocial predispositions may emanate from cooperative breeding.cooperative breeding ͉ non-human primates ͉ prosociality ͉ helping ͉ dictator game

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 55%

Other-regarding preferences in a non-human primate: Common marmosets provision food altruistically

Burkart

Fehr

Efferson

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

310

314

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“…Koenig and Rothe [38] point out that, regardless of group size, only 3-4 individuals account for the majority of infant transport across studies of captive common marmosets. A similar pattern has been found in studies of other callitrichid species [17,19,20,50]. Provisioning, however, is an activity in which the participation of all group members might be more likely to result in a net gain for infants, given that infants might be expected to continue begging for food until satiated.…”

Section: Importance Of Infant Provisioningmentioning

confidence: 49%

Effects of Allocare-Givers on Fitness of Infants and Parents in Callitrichid Primates

Bales

Dietz

Baker

et al. 2000

IJFP

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The effects of callitrichid primate helpers (allocare-givers other than an infant’s father) on the survival, reproduction or behavior of infants and parents are reviewed, using both published studies and data from free-ranging golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia). Three lines of evidence suggest that helpers may increase their own inclusive fitness: (1) The number of adult males acting as helpers in free-ranging groups is correlated with the number of surviving infants in 3 callitrichid species. However, the lack of a negative correlation with number of infants dying suggests that activities other than direct infant care (e.g. territory defense) may be more important, especially in newly formed groups. (2) In 2 species, captive groups with helpers carry infants for longer periods of time than do groups without helpers. Whether such differences would translate into meaningful survival differences in free-ranging groups is unclear. (3) Helpers reduce the energetic burden of parents by reducing the amount of time they spend transporting or provisioning infants in at least 4 species. Reproductive males are more likely than reproductive females to benefit from the presence of helpers, reducing their investment in infant care activities as the number of helpers in the group increases. In free-ranging golden lion tamarins, the reproductive tenure of males, but not females, increases with the number of helpers in the group, suggesting that a reduction in energetic investment may translate into increased survival. ‘Decisions’ made by helpers to participate in infant transport are weighed against competing needs for foraging, vigilance, territory defense and, in some cases, prospecting for breeding opportunities. Given this complexity, a sophisticated model may be required to answer the question of how helpers ‘decide’ to participate in infant care versus other activities.

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“…One likely explanation for these different findings regarding the impact of alloparents on maternal effort may be the difficulty of disentangling the effects of alloparental assistance from the effects of alloparental age and experience. Several studies have indicated that young alloparents (e.g., common marmosets : Ingram, 1977;Tardif et al, 1986;cotton-top tamarins: Tardif et al, 1986cotton-top tamarins: Tardif et al, , 1992Price, 1991Price, , 1992csaddle-back tamarins: Epple, 1975), and those without prior experience with infant siblings (e.g., common marmosets: Tardif et al, 1984;cotton-top tamarins: Tardif et al, 1984;Washabaugh et al, 2002;golden lion tamarins: Hoage, 1978;Johnson et al, 1991;saddle-back tamarins: Epple, 1975), are less involved in infant care or provide less competent care to infants. In our study, alloparents must have been present for the birth of at least one litter of younger siblings, and at least one year of age, to have been considered experienced, presumably resulting in their being old enough, large enough, and with enough infant-rearing experience to competently assist their mothers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In light of numerous reports that competent caregiving behavior increases with age (e.g., common marmosets : Ingram, 1977;Tardif et al, 1986;cotton-top tamarins: Tardif et al, 1986cotton-top tamarins: Tardif et al, , 1992Price, 1991Price, , 1992b; but also see Achenbach and Snowdon, 1998;saddle-back tamarins: Epple, 1975) and experience (e.g., common marmosets: Tardif et al, 1984; cottontop tamarins: Tardif et al, 1984;Johnson et al, 1991;Washabaugh et al, 2002; but also see Achenbach and Snowdon, 1998; golden lion tamarins: Hoage, 1978;saddleback tamarins: Epple, 1975), alloparents must have been present for the birth of at least one litter of younger siblings, and at least one year of age, to be considered experienced. The mean number of previous litters to which alloparents had been exposed was 2.50 ± 0.56 litters.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunistic mothers: female marmosets (Callithrix kuhlii) reduce their investment in offspring when they have to, and when they can

Fite

Patera

French

et al. 2005

Journal of Human Evolution

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All female primates incur energetic costs associated with producing and caring for offspring, but females belonging to the New World primate family Callitrichidae, the marmosets and tamarins, appear to face even further demands. In fact, the energetic demands of rearing callitrichid infants are thought to have led to the evolution of cooperative infant care in these species. If this explanation is true, then one might expect that natural selection should also have shaped patterns of maternal behavior to be sensitive to the costs of reproduction and equipped females to reduce their investment in offspring under certain conditions. Therefore, we examined the maternal effort and postpartum endocrine profiles of individual female marmosets (Callithrix kuhlii) across conditions that represented two hallmarks of callitrichid reproduction-conception during the early postpartum period and alloparental assistance. When females conceived during the early postpartum period and faced the upcoming demands of caring for their newly conceived litters (Study 1), they significantly reduced their caregiving effort and had significantly higher postpartum levels of estradiol relative to breeding attempts in which conception occurred later in the postpartum period. Postpartum estradiol was negatively correlated with maternal carrying effort. When experienced alloparents were present (Study 2), females again reduced their caregiving effort relative to breeding attempts in which experienced alloparents were not present. Postpartum cortisol, however, did not vary as a function of experienced alloparental assistance. The results of these studies suggest that female marmosets have been subjected to similar selection pressures as females of other primate taxa-to maximize their reproductive success by reducing their investment in offspring under the worst and best of conditions-and suggest that hormones may mediate within-female variation in maternal care. These studies also provide support for the notion that mothers are "flexible opportunists" when it comes to providing care to their young.

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Comparison of infant care in family groups of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) and the cotton‐top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus)

Cited by 67 publications

References 9 publications

Other-regarding preferences in a non-human primate: Common marmosets provision food altruistically

Other-regarding preferences in a non-human primate: Common marmosets provision food altruistically

Effects of Allocare-Givers on Fitness of Infants and Parents in Callitrichid Primates

Opportunistic mothers: female marmosets (Callithrix kuhlii) reduce their investment in offspring when they have to, and when they can

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