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Brief communication: Self‐suckling in Barbary macaque ( Macaca sylvanus ) mothers before and after the death of their infant
Author(s) -
Majolo Bonaventura,
McFarland Richard
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.21125
Subject(s) - macaque , rhesus macaque , developmental psychology , communication , demography , psychology , biology , neuroscience , virology , sociology
We report here self‐suckling in four wild female Barbary macaques ( Macaca sylvanus ), living in two troops (i.e. “Flat face” and “Large” troop) in the middle‐Atlas Mountains, Morocco. The four females lost their infants due to predation or for unknown causes. Self‐suckling was observed before and after the infants died in the four females living in the “Flat face” troop. When the infants were still alive, self‐suckling was of short duration and it was probably a method to improve milk flow when the infant switched from one nipple to the other. After the infants died, self‐suckling lasted significantly longer and the females were apparently drinking their own milk. Self‐suckling was never observed among the four lactating females in the “Large” troop (including one monkey who lost her infant) and it could thus represent a cultural difference. Moreover, self‐suckling after the death of an infant may be explained by the energetic and immunological benefits that a monkey may gain from drinking their own milk. Finally, self‐suckling may have a stress‐releasing effect on the mothers who have lost their infants. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.