Observations on parturition and allomothering in wild capped langur (Trachypithecus pileatus)

Kumar, Awadhesh; Solanki, G. S.; Sharma, B. K.

doi:10.1007/s10329-004-0121-9

Cited by 23 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Carpenter 1964;van Lawick-Goodall 1967;Kumar et al 2005;Yao et al 2012); however, there is much variation in the response of group members to parturition (Moreno et al 1991;Takahata et al 2001). Luna and Leah received considerable attention from other mature and immature females during the week following parturition, which was manifested in grooming, peering, and proximity maintenance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Despite this paucity of observations of parturition in the wild, there is an increasing and disproportionate body of evidence comprising various species of nonhuman primates which suggests that birth may occur in a social context more regularly than was previously thought (e.g. Dunbar and Dunbar 1974;Oppenheimer 1976;Stewart 1977;Goodall and Athumani 1980;Nigi 1982;Sekulic 1982;Chism et al 1983;Kinnaird 1990;Nakamichi et al 1992;Condit and Smith 1994;Gorzitze 1996;Kiwede 2000;Ruiz et al 2004;Dias 2005;Kumar et al 2005;Camargo and Ferrari 2007;Peker et al 2009;Turner et al 2010;Yao et al 2012;Ding et al 2013;Deluycker 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Female sociality during the daytime birth of a wild bonobo at Luikotale, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Douglas

2014

Primates

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Parturition is one of the most important yet least observed events in studies of primate life history and reproduction. Here, I report the first documented observation of a bonobo (Pan paniscus) birth event in the wild, at the Luikotale Bonobo Project field site, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The nulliparous mother's behaviour before, during and after parturition is described, along with reactions of other community members to the birth and the neonate. Data were collected through focal-animal observations, and the events postpartum were photo-documented. The behaviour and spatial distribution of party members were recorded using scan samples. Parturition occurred during the late morning in a social context, with parous females in close proximity to the parturient mother. Placentophagia occurred immediately after delivery, and the parturient shared the placenta with two of the attending females. I compare this observation with reports of parturition in captive bonobos, and highlight the observed female sociality and social support during the birth event. Plausible adaptive advantages of parturition occurring in a social context are discussed, and accrued observations of birth events in wild and free-ranging primates suggest that females may give birth within proximity of others more frequently than previously thought. This account contributes rare empirical data for examining the interface between female sociality and parturition, and the evolution of parturitional behaviours in primates.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Female sociality during the daytime birth of a wild bonobo at Luikotale, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Douglas

2014

Primates

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Except for the behavior of licking the infant after birth, which was reported for a capped langur (Trachypithecus pileatus: Kumar et al 2005), researchers have not reported these behaviors for colobine monkeys because of the lack of observations on birth. These birth-related behaviors are similar to those described for several Macaca spp.…”

Section: Behaviors Of the Parturientsmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…In comparison with other phylogenetic groups, data on birth in colobine monkeys are even more limited. To the best of our knowledge, there is only one brief report on birth in wild capped langurs (Trachypithecus pileatus: Kumar et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Parturitions in Wild White-Headed Langurs (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) in the Nongguan Hills, China

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There are few detailed descriptions of parturition behavior in wild primates. Here we report for the first time birth-related behaviors in a highly endangered colobine monkey endemic to southwest China, the white-headed langur (Trachypithecus leucocephalus). We video recorded three complete birth events in three parturient females living in one reproductive group. The births occurred during the night at one of the group's sleeping sites. One parturient was primiparous, while the other two were multiparous. All three delivered close to other group members. Common behaviors among the parturients included adopting a raised-rump posture during contractions, manual inspection of the anogenital area followed by hand-licking, manual selfassistance as the infant emerged, holding and licking the infant immediately after the birth, and ingesting the placenta. However, we found considerable individual variation in birth-related behaviors. The primiparous female had the longest prepartum phase and more contractions than the two multiparous females. All three mothers ingested the placenta, but the primipare took much longer than the two multiparous mothers to deliver the placenta, start to ingest it, and consume it. Other group members had little interaction with the parturients during the prepartum phase, but showed intense interest in the neonates. The newly born infants were held by nonmaternal adult females of the group within 5-9 h of their birth. Our case studies stress the importance of the social context at parturition in group-living primates, and suggest that parity of parturients may influence birth-related behavior.

show abstract

“…Gouzoules [1974] reported that a female M. arctoides took less than 15 min starting from the first observed signs of labour to parturition, in spite of vigorous disturbances caused by the group members, including her own son. Although vocalization by the mother [Gouzoules, 1974;Dias, 2005;Kumar et al, 2005;Turner et al, 2010], by the infant [Brandt and Mitchell, 1973;Nakamichi et al, 1992] and by both mother and infant [Ratnayeke and Dittus, 1989] has been reported in a number of primate species; none of the 3 mother-infant dyads observed in this study vocalized at any point during data collection over the complete birth period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Births in Captive Stump-Tailed Macaques (Macaca arctoides)

Zothansiama¹

2013

IJFP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this report, nighttime births of 3 stump-tailed macaques observed at the Aizawl Zoological Park, India, are described. Continuous focal observations were collected along with video and still photographs, on the 3 parturitions, from the first observed onset of labour. The average time taken for infant birth, beginning with visibility of the head at the vaginal opening, was 45 s. The births observed were similar in many respects, regardless of parity and social context. The average time taken for consuming the placenta was 4 min 4 s and the average number of contractions was 6.3. In all cases births occurred with the infant emerging in the occiput posterior position, assisted by the mother. Individual variations existed in the number of contractions, intercontraction intervals, self-examination of the anogenital region, duration of labour and the interval between infant birth and the delivery of the placenta. Each mother ingested the placenta completely, while holding her neonate, but without paying much attention to the neonate during placentophagia. Placentophagia appears to provide nutrition to the mothers. Detailed data on parturition in non-human primates, and particularly for Macaca arctoides, are still scarce. Data, such as those presented here, contribute to our understanding of primate birth and the adaptive pressures that shape parturition behaviour and reproductive success.

show abstract

Observations on parturition and allomothering in wild capped langur (Trachypithecus pileatus)

Cited by 23 publications

References 2 publications

Female sociality during the daytime birth of a wild bonobo at Luikotale, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Female sociality during the daytime birth of a wild bonobo at Luikotale, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Parturitions in Wild White-Headed Langurs (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) in the Nongguan Hills, China

Births in Captive Stump-Tailed Macaques (Macaca arctoides)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About