Male and female birth attendance and assistance in a species of non-human primate (Rhinopithecus bieti),Behavioural Processes

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Male and female birth attendance and assistance in a species of non-human primate (Rhinopithecus bieti)
Behavioural Processes ( IF 1.3 ) Pub Date : 2020-12-01 , DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104248
Yan-Peng Li ₁ , Tai Zhong ₂ , Zhi-Pang Huang ₁ , Ru-Liang Pan ₃ , Paul A Garber ₄ , Feng-Qin Yu ₅ , Wen Xiao ₆

Affiliation

Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China; International Centre of Biodiversity and Primate Conservation, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China; Collaborative Innovation Center for the Biodiversity in the Three Parallel Rivers of China, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China.
Administration of Baimaxueshan National Nature Reserve, Deqin, Yunnan 674500, China; Collaborative Innovation Center for the Biodiversity in the Three Parallel Rivers of China, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China.
International Centre of Biodiversity and Primate Conservation, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, China; School of Anatomy, Physiology, School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia; Collaborative Innovation Center for the Biodiversity in the Three Parallel Rivers of China, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China.
International Centre of Biodiversity and Primate Conservation, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China; Department of Anthropology and Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Collaborative Innovation Center for the Biodiversity in the Three Parallel Rivers of China, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China; China Wildlife Conservation Association, Beijing 100714, China.
Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China; International Centre of Biodiversity and Primate Conservation, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China; Collaborative Innovation Center for the Biodiversity in the Three Parallel Rivers of China, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China; Center for Cultural Ecology in Northwest Yunnan, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China.

Birth attendance, or midwifery service, is an important characteristic in human evolution, and has been argued to separate our lineage from other taxa in the animal kingdom. Recent studies, however, indicate that similar or analogous behaviors also may occur in a small number of nonhuman primate species. Here, we report the first case of both male and female attendance and female birth assistance in a wild species of nonhuman primate, the black-and-white snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti). At our field site in Yunnan, China we observed a diurnal birth event in which the leader male of a one-male unit (OMU) remained in close- proximity (0-2 meters) to the parturient, groomed her, and remained vigilant over a five hour pre- and postpartum period. In addition, a multiparous female member of the OMU also remained in close proximity to the soon-to-be mother, helped to pull the neonate from the birth canal, took the neonate from the new mother within 15 seconds of the birth, held the infant for 20 minutes, and then severed the umbilical cord. For the next several days the leader male traveled in close-proximity to the new mother and four days after the birth event, we observed him to share food with her. Given that diurnal births are extremely rare in this primate species; it remains unclear degree to which the events we observed commonly occur during nighttime births. We argue that adult male and female black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys are highly attracted to young infants, and birth attendance and birth assistance in this, and certain other primate species, may play a critical role in maternal and infant survivorship.

更新日期：2020-12-01

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