Infanticide in chimpanzees: Taphonomic case studies from Gombe

Kirchhoff, Claire A; Wilson, Michael L.; Mjungu, Deus; Raphael, Jane; Kamenya, Shadrack; Collins, Dave

doi:10.1002/ajpa.23335

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Most reports concern infants of 'stranger' females getting killed and eaten, but intra-group cases also occur [79]. The rate of post-infanticide cannibalism is higher in chimpanzees than other species of nonhuman primates [80]; a review of 40 cases revealed that 23% of chimpanzee infanticide victims were consumed wholly, and another 37.5% partially [81].…”

Section: (B) Conspecifics: Cannibalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chimpanzees and death

Anderson¹

2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Information about responses to death in nonhuman primates is important for evolutionary thanatology. This paper reviews the major causes of death in chimpanzees, and how these apes respond to cues related to dying and death. Topics covered include disease, human activities, predation, accidents and intra-species aggression and cannibalism. Chimpanzees also kill and sometimes eat other species. It is argued that, given their cognitive abilities, their experiences of death in conspecifics and other species are likely to equip chimpanzees with an understanding of death as cessation of function and irreversible. Whether they might understand that death is inevitable-including their own death, and biological causes of death is also discussed. As well as gathering more fundamental information about responses to dying and death, researchers should pay attention to possible cultural variations in how great apes deal with death.This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolutionary thanatology: impacts of the dead on the living in humans and other animals'.

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Section: (B) Conspecifics: Cannibalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…B 373: 20170257 with similar-sized monkey prey [81], suggesting a psychological difference between eating a conspecific and another species. Third, intra-community infants are eaten less completely than extra-community infants [81]. The psychology of cannibalism in chimpanzees requires further study.…”

Section: Questions For Future Research and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chimpanzees and death

Anderson¹

2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…A comparison between Sonso and Kasakela (Gombe) supports the idea of a by-product explanation: Sonso chimpanzees are relatively poor hunters, even though historically low levels (Newton-Fisher et al 2002) have risen in recent years (Hobaiter et al 2017), whereas Kasakela chimpanzees hunt more frequently (Stanford et al 1994;Gilby et al 2006). Cannibalism is low for Sonso, but in Kasakela, all of the victims of infanticide are cannibalized, at least in part (infanticide victims are eaten less completely than prey items: Kirchhoff et al 2018). Thus, chimpanzees accustomed to eating meat appear more likely to consider the victims of infanticide as a suitable food-they may have more of a generalized 'taste for meat'.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…Cannibalism is well documented in infanticide cases (Goodall 1977;Takahata 1985;Newton-Fisher 1999;Watts and Mitani 2000;Walker et al 2018a;Kirchhoff et al 2018;Nishie and Nakamura 2018), and is the norm in at least two populations (12 of 14 within-group incidences in the Kanyawara community, Kibale, Uganda: Arcadi and Wrangham 1999, and all cases in which the infanticide was successful at Gombe, Tanzania: Murray et al 2007). However, infanticide victims at Gombe (the only site for which published data exist) tend to be exploited less fully than prey animals, with less nutritionally rich areas (such as hands and feet, rather than organs or large muscle groups) more likely to be eaten (Kirchhoff et al 2018). Infanticide without cannibalism has also been reported, including at Budongo (Arcadi and Wrangham 1999;Townsend et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra-community infanticide in wild, eastern chimpanzees: a 24-year review

Lowe

Hobaiter

Asiimwe³

et al. 2019

Primates

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Infanticide is well documented in chimpanzees and various hypotheses have been proposed to explain this behavior. However, since infanticide by chimpanzees is relatively rare, it has thus far not been possible to thoroughly test these hypotheses. Here we present an analysis of the largest dataset of infanticides from a single community of chimpanzees, a full record of all intracommunity infanticides and failed attempts at infanticide over a 24-year period for the Sonso community of chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest, Uganda. We use these data to test four hypotheses for this behavior: the sexual selection hypothesis, male mating competition, resource competition, and meat acquisition. Our dataset consisted of 33 attacks on 30 victims, 11 of which were 'definite' infanticides, four of which 'almost certain', and nine were 'suspected', while nine were 'attempted' infanticides. The majority of attacks where the perpetrators were known (23) had only male attackers and victims were disproportionately young (two-thirds of victims with known ages were under 1 week old). Our data best support the sexual selection hypothesis for infanticide. Cannibalism was infrequent and partial, suggesting meat acquisition was a by-product of infanticide, and there was no evidence to suggest that infanticide was part of a male strategy to eliminate future competitors. Infanticide by females was rare, but we suggest sexual selection, operating through intra-sexual competition, may also be responsible for infanticide by females.

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“…The possibility that another chimpanzee may have inflicted these tooth marks could not be evaluated using tooth mark measurement data. While wild chimpanzee taphonomic damage on much smaller primates as a result of predation (Plummer & Stanford, ; Pobiner, DeSilva, Sanders, & Mitani, ), and taphonomic damage resulting from chimpanzee infanticide (Kirchhoff et al, ) have been described, there are currently no published measurements of chimpanzee tooth marks on the skeletal remains of other adult chimpanzees. Jurmain (, ) reported tooth marks on chimpanzee skeletal remains made by other chimpanzees, but with relatively limited documentation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A chomped chimp: New evidence of tooth marks on an adult chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus)

Eller

Pobiner

Friend

et al. 2020

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: To describe and interpret previously unreported marks on the dry cranium of an adult chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) from Côte d'Ivoire at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (USNM 450071). Materials and Methods:All marks on the cranium were documented and assessed through physical examination of the specimen, photography, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), and 3D laser scanning. Pits and punctures were measured with digital calipers for comparison with published carnivore tooth mark measurements.Results: The cranium shows perimortem or postmortem damage to the temporal, occipital, and maxillary regions that is not recent. Size and color variation in the marks suggest two damage events, possibly involving chewing by different animals, at least one of which was a large-bodied mammal. The 22 tooth pits and punctures (0.89-8.75 mm in maximum length and 0.88-6.63 mm in breadth) overlap in size with those inflicted by wild leopards, the most significant predators of common chimpanzees due to their largely overlapping ecological distributions.Conclusions: Based on qualitative and quantitative evidence, we conclude that leopards are the most likely cause of the most prominent marks on the cranium. However, we cannot rule out the additional possibility of other chimpanzees, although there are no published studies of chimpanzee tooth marks for direct comparison. This study is the most extensive documentation to date of a modern adult chimpanzee skull exhibiting tooth marks by a large mammal, thus providing new evidence to help identify and interpret other events of predation and scavenging of large-bodied apes in the modern and fossil records. K E Y W O R D S chimpanzee, predation, scavenging, taphonomy, tooth marks

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Infanticide in chimpanzees: Taphonomic case studies from Gombe

Cited by 13 publications

References 56 publications

Chimpanzees and death

Chimpanzees and death

Intra-community infanticide in wild, eastern chimpanzees: a 24-year review

A chomped chimp: New evidence of tooth marks on an adult chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus)

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