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Why chimpanzees carry dead infants: an empirical assessment of existing hypotheses.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Lonsdorf, EV; Wilson, ML; Boehm, E; Delaney-Soesman, J; Grebey, T; Murray, C; Wellens, K; Pusey, AE
Published in: Royal Society open science
July 2020

The study of non-human primate thanatology has expanded dramatically in recent years as scientists seek to understand the evolutionary roots of human death concepts and practices. However, observations of how conspecifics respond to dead individuals are rare and highly variable. Mothers of several species of primate have been reported to carry and continue to interact with dead infants. Such interactions have been proposed to be related to maternal condition, attachment, environmental conditions or reflect a lack of awareness that the infant has died. Here, we tested these hypotheses using a dataset of cases of infant corpse carrying by chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania (n = 33), the largest dataset of such cases in chimpanzees. We found that mothers carried infant corpses at high rates, despite behavioural evidence that they recognize that death has occurred. Median duration of carriage was 1.83 days (interquartile range = 1.03-3.59). Using an information theoretic approach, we found no support for any of the leading hypotheses for duration of continued carriage. We interpret these data in the context of recent discussions regarding what non-human primates understand about death.

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Published In

Royal Society open science

DOI

EISSN

2054-5703

ISSN

2054-5703

Publication Date

July 2020

Volume

7

Issue

7

Start / End Page

200931
 

Citation

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Lonsdorf, E. V., Wilson, M. L., Boehm, E., Delaney-Soesman, J., Grebey, T., Murray, C., … Pusey, A. E. (2020). Why chimpanzees carry dead infants: an empirical assessment of existing hypotheses. Royal Society Open Science, 7(7), 200931. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.200931
Lonsdorf, Elizabeth V., Michael L. Wilson, Emily Boehm, Josephine Delaney-Soesman, Tessa Grebey, Carson Murray, Kaitlin Wellens, and Anne E. Pusey. “Why chimpanzees carry dead infants: an empirical assessment of existing hypotheses.Royal Society Open Science 7, no. 7 (July 2020): 200931. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.200931.
Lonsdorf EV, Wilson ML, Boehm E, Delaney-Soesman J, Grebey T, Murray C, et al. Why chimpanzees carry dead infants: an empirical assessment of existing hypotheses. Royal Society open science. 2020 Jul;7(7):200931.
Lonsdorf, Elizabeth V., et al. “Why chimpanzees carry dead infants: an empirical assessment of existing hypotheses.Royal Society Open Science, vol. 7, no. 7, July 2020, p. 200931. Epmc, doi:10.1098/rsos.200931.
Lonsdorf EV, Wilson ML, Boehm E, Delaney-Soesman J, Grebey T, Murray C, Wellens K, Pusey AE. Why chimpanzees carry dead infants: an empirical assessment of existing hypotheses. Royal Society open science. 2020 Jul;7(7):200931.
Journal cover image

Published In

Royal Society open science

DOI

EISSN

2054-5703

ISSN

2054-5703

Publication Date

July 2020

Volume

7

Issue

7

Start / End Page

200931