Many primates show responses to dead infants, yet testing explanations for these behaviors has been difficult. Callitrichids present a unique opportunity to delineate between hypotheses, since unlike most species, male caretakers form closer social bonds with infants than mothers. Callitrichids are also known to commit infanticide, leaving obvious wounds that may enable them to more readily recognize death. We present: (1) a case study of a wild common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) group responding to an infant’s natural death, and (2) a review of published infant deaths across callitrichids (N = 16), testing for trends in the sex of reacting individuals and cause of death. In our case study, several group members frequently interacted with the dead infant, attempting to carry it. However, the strongest response was from a male that remained with the corpse for ~ 3 h, despite his group leaving the area. Across callitrichid species, corpse interactions were significantly sex-biased: 100% (N = 6) of accidental deaths involved corpse interaction by males (p = 0.007), compared to 60% (N = 3 of 5) by females (p = 0.095). Cause of death also played a significant role, with individuals attempting to carry dead infants in 100% (N = 6) of accidental deaths, but only 11.1% (N = 1 of 9) of infanticides (p = 0.001). Although the available literature is small and potentially subject to publication biases, these data support the idea that visually obvious wounds may influence callitrichids’ perception of dead conspecifics. Additionally, male-biased patterns of corpse interaction in callitrichids indicate that social bonds likely shape reactions to the dead, in addition to kinship. While published data on primate thanatology are limited, this study demonstrates quantitative approaches that can provide empirical insights into primates’ responses to dead conspecifics.

中文翻译：

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Callitrichid 对死亡和垂死婴儿的反应：父系纽带的影响和死因

许多灵长类动物对死去的婴儿有反应，但很难解释这些行为的原因。Callitrichids 提供了一个描述假设之间的独特机会，因为与大多数物种不同，男性看护者与婴儿的社会联系比母亲更密切。众所周知，Callitrichids 会杀婴，留下明显的伤口，使它们能够更容易地识别死亡。我们呈现：(1) 对婴儿自然死亡做出反应的野生普通狨猴 (Callithrix jacchus) 组的案例研究，以及 (2) 对已发表的 Callitrichids (N = 16) 婴儿死亡的回顾，测试性别趋势反应个体和死亡原因。在我们的案例研究中，几个小组成员经常与死去的婴儿互动，试图抱起它。然而，最强烈的反应来自一名男性，尽管他的团队离开了该地区，但他仍与尸体在一起约 3 小时。在所有 callitrichid 物种中，尸体互动存在显着的性别偏见：100% (N = 6) 的意外死亡涉及男性的尸体互动 (p = 0.007)，而女性则为 60% (N = 3 of 5) (p = 0.095) ）。死因也发挥了重要作用，在 100% (N = 6) 的意外死亡中，个人试图携带死去的婴儿，但只有 11.1% (N = 1 of 9) 的婴儿杀戮 (p = 0.001)。虽然可用的文献很少，并且可能会受到发表偏倚的影响，但这些数据支持视觉上明显的伤口可能会影响 callitrichids 对死亡同种的看法的观点。此外，callitrichids 中男性偏向的尸体互动模式表明，除了亲属关系之外，社会联系可能会影响对死者的反应。虽然已发表的灵长类动物死亡学数据有限，但这项研究展示了定量方法，可以为灵长类动物对死亡同种动物的反应提供经验见解。