Buchan Jason C, Alberts Susan C, Silk Joan B, Altmann Jeanne
Department of Biology, Duke University, Box 90338, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
Nature. 2003 Sep 11;425(6954):179-81. doi: 10.1038/nature01866.
Although male parental care is rare among mammals, adult males of many cercopithecine primate species provide care for infants and juveniles. This care is often in the form of grooming, carrying, support in agonistic interactions, and protection against infanticide. For these behaviours to be interpreted as true parental care, males must selectively direct care towards their own offspring and this care must result in fitness benefits. With the exception of males defending probable offspring from infanticide, male primates living in multi-male, multi-female social groups have not been shown to selectively direct care towards their own offspring. We determined paternity for 75 juveniles in a population of wild savannah baboons (Papio cynocephalus) and collected data on interventions in agonistic disputes by adult males on behalf of juveniles as a form of male care. Here we show that adult males differentiate their offspring from unrelated juveniles and selectively support their offspring in agonistic disputes. As support in agonistic disputes is likely to contribute to rank acquisition and protect juveniles from injury and stress, this can be considered true parental care.
尽管雄性亲代抚育在哺乳动物中很少见，但许多猕猴科灵长类动物的成年雄性会照顾婴儿和幼崽。这种照顾通常表现为梳理毛发、携带、在争斗互动中提供支持以及防止杀婴行为。要将这些行为解释为真正的亲代抚育，雄性必须有选择地将照顾指向自己的后代，并且这种照顾必须带来适应性益处。除了雄性保护可能的后代免受杀婴行为侵害外，生活在多雄多雌社会群体中的雄性灵长类动物尚未被证明会有选择地将照顾指向自己的后代。我们确定了野生草原狒狒（Papio cynocephalus）种群中75只幼崽的父系，并收集了成年雄性代表幼崽干预争斗纠纷的数据，将其作为雄性照顾的一种形式。在这里，我们表明成年雄性能够区分自己的后代和无关的幼崽，并在争斗纠纷中选择性地支持自己的后代。由于在争斗纠纷中提供支持可能有助于获得地位，并保护幼崽免受伤害和压力，这可以被视为真正的亲代抚育。
