What is it about?
Marmosets share more when immatures struggle to obtain food in a difficult task, but squirrel monkeys don’t care. This is likely because marmosets live in family groups where everyone helps raise the young, fostering a strong tendency to care for others and even recognize skill deficits.
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Why is it important?
Our study highlights the important role that cooperative breeding and food sharing can play in the evolution of information sharing. As in marmosets, human mothers receive help in rearing offspring from other group members and qualify as cooperative breeders. This background of rearing offspring as groups thus likely catalyzed the evolution of human teaching and language.
Perspectives
Comparative studies present unique challenges, as they require adapting one's paradigm to each species while striving to maintain consistency and comparability. This study was a rewarding experience in this respect, providing me with the opportunity to collaborate with exceptional individuals at various locations and benefit from their expertise. Ultimately, I hope this article contributes to a deeper understanding that food sharing involves more than just providing nutrition. When such behaviors are scrutinized across different contexts, they reveal how they also serve as mechanisms for transferring information. This insight is crucial for advancing our understanding of the evolution of human teaching and language.
Sandro Sehner
German Primate Center
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Sensitivity to immature skill deficits. Food sharing experiments in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri boliviensis) and common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)., Journal of Comparative Psychology, February 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/com0000399.
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