Differential infant carrying in captive and wild common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

Abstract

Callitrichids are communal breeders that lack sexual dimorphism, and only a few studies have examined behavioral gender differences among them. The purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences in infant carrying in 16 captive and seven wild common marmoset groups. Our results showed that female-female twin pairs were carried significantly more often by fathers than were male-male and male-female pairs both in the wild and in captivity. We suggest these differences may be related to different reproductive potentials of male and female Callithrix jacchus and possibly to future breeding competition among females.

Quality of maternal and paternal care predicts later stress reactivity in the cooperatively-breeding marmoset (Callithrix geoffroyi)

“…This is somewhat surprising because there is some degree of sexual dimorphism in the adult stress response and cortisol awakening response of marmosets (Smith and French, 1997). While there are some accounts of differences in how male and female infants are treated (e.g., carrying rates: Yamamoto et al, 2008), other studies have found that callitrichine primates do not vary the amount of care provided based on the sex of the offspring (e.g., Cleveland and Snowdon, 1984; Tardif et al, 1992). In addition, and most similar to our findings, Dettling et al (2002) also found no sex differences in HPA stress responses among young (18 weeks) marmosets, whether early-deprived or normally-reared.…”

“…That is, are the alterations in HPA stress responses in cooperatively breeding species a result of the quality of maternal interactions, paternal interactions, or total quality and quantity of offspring care provided by all caregivers during the critical period of infancy? Marmoset fathers and older siblings often play a substantial role in infant rearing (Nunes et al, 2001, 2000; Yamamoto, 1993; Yamamoto et al, 2008). We therefore postulated that the differences in the care provided by fathers and other group members could potentially constitute a significant source of variation in later HPA stress response styles in this cooperatively breeding primate.…”

Monkey see, monkey feel? Marmoset reactions towards conspecifics' arousal

“…[ 29 ] have demonstrated the existence of diverging strategies within a common marmoset group, which could be broadly summarized as a stronger tendency toward cooperation between males and toward competition between females. The consequences of these strategies can be evident in various behavioural contexts, such as food sharing [ 32 ], infant carrying [ 53 ], reproductive competition [ 27 ] and social tolerance [ 55 – 56 ]. Male breeders usually play a particularly prominent role in infant care, especially in infant carrying and food sharing [ 28 , 59 – 60 ].…”

Development of infant common marmosets’ (Callithrix jacchus) preference for their parents over adults from another group

“…Callitrichid primates, marmosets and tamarins, live together as a large family, with the mother, the father and older siblings all taking care of infants (Ferrari 1992;Price 1992;Rothe et al 1993;Bales et al 2002;Kostan and Snowdon 2002;Washabaugh et al 2002;Mills et al 2004;Fite et al 2005;Mota et al 2006;Yamamoto et al 2008). There are high costs for infant carrying in callitrichids: twining, a high maternal/infant weight ratio (Leutenegger 1973), metabolic expenses (Sanchez et al 1999;Achenbach and Snowdon 2002), and reduced mobility (Schradin and Anzenberger 2001).…”