Early life maternal sociality predicts juvenile sociality in blue monkeys

Thompson, Nicole A.; Cords, Marina

doi:10.1002/ajp.23039

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…In mammals, the beginning of life of each individual is very sensitive and, thus, interactions with partners might be critical for the development of their social abilities (Thompson & Cords, 2019 ). In fact, in this study, for the infants drawn, from the 300+ events of lipsmacking in the second month, we found only 12 lipsmacking events in the ninth month, which were not considered in the analyses owing to its low number.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The shape of lipsmacking: socio-emotional regulation in bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus)

Albuquerque,

Savalli,

Belli

et al. 2023

Evolut. Hum. Sci.

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Capuchin monkeys have rich social relationships and from very young ages they participate in complex interactions with members of their group. Lipsmacking behaviour, which involves at least two individuals in socially-mediated interactions, may tell about processes that maintain, accentuate or attenuate emotional exchanges in monkeys. Lipsmacking is a facial expression associated with the establishment and maintenance of affiliative interactions, following under the “emotional regulation” umbrella, which accounts for the ability to manage behavioural responses. We investigated behaviours related to the emitter and to the receiver (infant) of lipsmacking to answer the question of how lipsmacking occurs. In capuchin monkeys, lipsmacking has been previously understood solely as a face-to-face interaction. Our data show that emitters are engaged with infants, looking longer towards their face and seeking eye contact during the display. However, receivers spend most of the time looking away from the emitter and stay in no contact for nearly half of the time. From naturalistic observations of wild infant capuchin monkeys from Brazil we found that lipsmacking is not restricted to mutual gaze, meaning there are other mechanisms in place than previously known. Our results open paths to new insights about the evolution of socio-emotional displays in primates.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tiddi et al, 2010Tiddi et al, , 2011. According to Thompson and Cords (2019), grooming has different functions when performed with the mother and with other individuals. We expect that the same might be true for other behaviours, such as lipsmacking, from its informational, regulatory and affiliative promoting aspects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The shape of lipsmacking: socio-emotional regulation in bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus)

Albuquerque,

Savalli,

Belli

et al. 2023

Evolut. Hum. Sci.

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“…While these developmental processes remain relatively poorly studied in wild vertebrate populations, it has been established that maternal effects are mediated by nutrients or specific endocrine states of the mother that affect offspring morphology, but also life history traits and behavior, and that they tend to influence juvenile traits more than adult traits (Bernardo 1996;Moore et al 2019;Mouton and Duckworth 2021). In addition, it is now widely recognized that events experienced by individuals during early development and adolescence not only have instantaneous fitness effects, but that they can also have downstream consequences for behavior, physiology, survival, and reproductive success well into adulthood, in taxa ranging from insects to humans (Patin et al 2002;Lea et al 2015;Tung et al 2016;Morimoto et al 2017;Langenhof and Komdeur 2018;Sachser et al 2018;Schülke et al 2019;Rosenbaum et al 2020;Snyder-Mackler et al 2020;Thompson and Cords 2020;Weibel et al 2020). In fact, the environment individuals experience during early development can even impact the phenotypes and fitness of their own later offspring (Zipple et al 2019(Zipple et al , 2021.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal stress effects on infant development in wild Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi)

Malalaharivony

Fichtel

Heistermann

et al. 2021

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Maternal effects mediated by nutrients or specific endocrine states of the mother can affect infant development. Specifically, pre- and postnatal maternal stress associated with elevated glucocorticoid (GC) output is known to influence the phenotype of the offspring, including their physical and behavioral development. These developmental processes, however, remain relatively poorly studied in wild vertebrates, including primates with their relatively slow life histories. Here, we investigated the effects of maternal stress, assessed by fecal glucocorticoid output, on infant development in wild Verreaux’s sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi), a group-living Malagasy primate. In a first step, we investigated factors predicting maternal fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations, how they impact infants’ physical and behavioral development during the first 6 months of postnatal life as well as early survival during the first 1.5 years of postnatal life. We collected fecal samples of mothers for hormone assays and behavioral data of 12 infants from two birth cohorts, for which we also assessed growth rates. Maternal fGCM concentrations were higher during the late prenatal but lower during the postnatal period compared to the early/mid prenatal period and were higher during periods of low rainfall. Infants of mothers with higher prenatal fGCM concentrations exhibited faster growth rates and were more explorative in terms of independent foraging and play. Infants of mothers with high pre- and postnatal fGCM concentrations were carried less and spent more time in nipple contact. Time mothers spent carrying infants predicted infant survival: infants that were more carried had lower survival, suggesting that they were likely in poorer condition and had to be cared for longer. Thus, the physical and behavioral development of these young primates were impacted by variation in maternal fGCM concentrations during the first 6 months of their lives, presumably as an adaptive response to living in a highly seasonal, but unpredictable environment. Significance statement The early development of infants can be impacted by variation in maternal condition. These maternal effects can be mediated by maternal stress (glucocorticoid hormones) and are known to have downstream consequences for behavior, physiology, survival, and reproductive success well into adulthood. However, the direction of the effects of maternal physiological GC output on offspring development is highly variable, even within the same species. We contribute comparative data on maternal stress effects on infant development in a Critically Endangered primate from Madagascar. We describe variation in maternal glucocorticoid output as a function of ecological and reproductive factors and show that patterns of infant growth, behavioral development, and early survival are predicted by maternal glucocorticoids. Our study demonstrates how mothers can influence offspring fitness in response to challenging environmental conditions.

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All together now: Assessing variation in maternal and nonmaternal handling of wild Colobus vellerosus infants

King,

Rissling,

Cote

et al. 2024

American J Primatol

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Primatologists have a long‐standing interest in the study of maternal care and nonmaternal handling (NH) of infants stemming from recognition that early social relationships can have enduring consequences. Though maternal care and NH often include expression of similar behaviors, they are regularly studied in isolation from each other with nonoverlapping terminology, thereby overlooking possible interplay between them and obfuscating potential developmental ramifications that ensue from trade‐offs made between maternal (MH) and NH during infancy. To that end, identifying how MH and NH patterns interact and contribute to the total handling (TH) infants receive is a critical first step. We present durational handling data collected from 25 wild Colobus vellerosus infants from 2016 to 2017 and assess the relationships between TH, MH, and NH. Patterns of social affiliation are shaped in part by surrounding context, and therefore, we also assess whether NH and TH differ in their responsivity to various infant and social group characteristics. Ninety‐four percent of observed handling was MH, while just 5.5% was NH. Young infants who received more MH (excluding nursing) also received more NH; there was no relationship between the two in older infants. Infants in larger groups participated in more handling of all types. Additionally, NH time was associated with infant sex and group stability. Non‐nursing TH time was associated with group stability and infant cohort size. Though NH variation likely confers social‐networking advantage, in this population NH is not a major contributor to TH and would not effectively replace reduced MH. The positive association between MH and NH during early infancy suggests that colobus mothers may play a mediating role in shaping infant socialization. This is a first step in elucidating how different forms of handling relate to one another in wild primates and in identifying the impact of handling on infant socialization.

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Early life maternal sociality predicts juvenile sociality in blue monkeys

Cited by 6 publications

References 71 publications

The shape of lipsmacking: socio-emotional regulation in bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus)

The shape of lipsmacking: socio-emotional regulation in bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus)

Maternal stress effects on infant development in wild Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi)

All together now: Assessing variation in maternal and nonmaternal handling of wild Colobus vellerosus infants

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