ArticlePrimates; journal of primatology2020
Changes in social behavior and fecal glucocorticoids in a Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) carrying her dead infant.
Article in Primates; journal of primatology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Post-mortem infant-directed behaviours in wild Guinea baboons.Primates; journal of primatology · 2026Article
- A lethal incident during an intergroup encounter in bonobos.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Hormonal changes in northern white-cheeked gibbons (Nomascus leucogenys) after the death of a group member.Primates; journal of primatology · 2024Article
- Necrophilic behaviour in wild stump-tailed macaques (Macaca arctoides).Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Good case studies reveal something important.Primates; journal of primatology · 2022Article
- Dead-infant carrying by chimpanzee mothers in the Budongo Forest.Primates; journal of primatology · 2022Article
- Viewing the rare through public lenses: insights into dead calf carrying and other thanatological responses in Asian elephants using YouTube videos.Royal Society open science · 2022Article
- Maternal caretaking behavior towards a dead juvenile in a wild, multi-level primate society.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Reactions to infant death by wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: prolonged carrying, non-mother carrying, and partial maternal cannibalism.Primates; journal of primatology · 2020Article
- Responses to death and dying: primates and other mammals.Primates; journal of primatology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Maternal care towards dead infants has been observed in many wild and captive mammals, but the consequences of this behavior for social interactions and the physiological status of the mother remain elusive. Here, we report changes in rates of aggression and grooming time, and fecal glucocorticoid (fGC) levels in a free-ranging female Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) that carried her dead infant for 20 days. Our observations revealed that when carrying the dead infant, the mother showed increased rates of grimace, avoidance, and human-directed behaviors, along with reduced allogrooming time and fleeing from other individuals. Postpartum fGC levels were comparable to those of non-pregnant and non-lactating females, suggesting that the energetic costs and stress of carrying a dead infant are low. Our findings indicate that carrying a dead neonate can have three profound consequences on the mother: increased fearful behavior, decreased allogrooming, and a rapid return to baseline fGC levels. We hypothesize that dead infant-carrying may have evolved as a strategy to mitigate stress from infant loss. These findings have implications for our understanding of grief in nonhuman primates and can impact management protocols surrounding deaths in captive social groups.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.