Douglas Pamela Heidi
Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany,
Primates. 2014 Oct;55(4):533-42. doi: 10.1007/s10329-014-0436-0. Epub 2014 Jul 10.
Parturition is one of the most important yet least observed events in studies of primate life history and reproduction. Here, I report the first documented observation of a bonobo (Pan paniscus) birth event in the wild, at the Luikotale Bonobo Project field site, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The nulliparous mother's behaviour before, during and after parturition is described, along with reactions of other community members to the birth and the neonate. Data were collected through focal-animal observations, and the events postpartum were photo-documented. The behaviour and spatial distribution of party members were recorded using scan samples. Parturition occurred during the late morning in a social context, with parous females in close proximity to the parturient mother. Placentophagia occurred immediately after delivery, and the parturient shared the placenta with two of the attending females. I compare this observation with reports of parturition in captive bonobos, and highlight the observed female sociality and social support during the birth event. Plausible adaptive advantages of parturition occurring in a social context are discussed, and accrued observations of birth events in wild and free-ranging primates suggest that females may give birth within proximity of others more frequently than previously thought. This account contributes rare empirical data for examining the interface between female sociality and parturition, and the evolution of parturitional behaviours in primates.
分娩是灵长类动物生活史和繁殖研究中最重要但最少被观察到的事件之一。在此，我报告了在刚果民主共和国的卢伊科塔莱倭黑猩猩项目野外研究点首次记录到的野生倭黑猩猩（Pan paniscus）分娩事件。描述了初产母亲在分娩前、分娩期间和分娩后的行为，以及其他社群成员对分娩和新生儿的反应。数据通过焦点动物观察收集，产后事件进行了拍照记录。使用扫描样本记录了群体成员的行为和空间分布。分娩发生在上午晚些时候的社交环境中，有经验的雌性与分娩的母亲距离很近。分娩后立即发生了食胎盘行为，分娩的母亲与两名在场的雌性分享了胎盘。我将这一观察结果与圈养倭黑猩猩的分娩报告进行了比较，并强调了在分娩事件中观察到的雌性社交性和社会支持。讨论了在社交环境中分娩可能具有的适应性优势，对野生和自由放养灵长类动物分娩事件的累积观察表明，雌性在他人附近分娩的频率可能比以前认为的更高。这一描述为研究雌性社交性与分娩之间的关系以及灵长类动物分娩行为的进化提供了难得的实证数据。
