Parental reactions to a dying marmoset infant: conditional investment by the mother, but not the father

What is it about?

This article provides a rare anecdotal report of the parental reactions towards a dying common marmoset infant. We analyzed the interactions with the infant of both parents in the two hours before its death and found that the father interacted far more with the dying infant (i.e. trying to carry the infant, grooming and licking it, making eye contact). The results suggest that the mother stopped earlier to invest in the dying infant than the father (conditional maternal investment). Most likely, mothers are more selective than fathers because they bear excessive reproductive costs. This conditional maternal investment might be a strong selection pressure on infants of cooperatively breeding primates to advertise their viability, in particular to their mothers.

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