The effect of female kinship and relatedness on infant handling in ursine colobus
Date
2011
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Abstract
I examined the effect of female kinship and relatedness on natal attraction and infant handling in wild Colobus vellerosus, an egalitarian, female philopatric species. Female kin categories were determined using known pedigree information and pairwise r values (nDNA genotyping by E. Wikberg). I observed twelve infants from June to November 2010 using ten-minute focal animal sampling, and compared female matrilineal kin versus non-kin behaviors towards the infants. Female kin exhibited more natal attraction than non-kin. Mothers resisted interactions from non-kin subadult females, yet subadult kin handled infants for longer durations. Kin and non-kin subadults handled at similar frequencies. Adult female non-kin infant handled more than kin. Results emphasize the gentle nature of infant handling and the easy-going temperaments of C. vellerosus mothers. Infant handling may be a mechanism of female bonding - exchanged between unrelated females of different matrilines in a group, to establish, maintain, and strengthen their social relationships.
Description
Bibliography: p. 121-137.
Includes copy of Certification of Animal Protocol Approval form. Original with original copy of Partial Copyright Licence.
A few pages are in colour.
Includes copy of Certification of Animal Protocol Approval form. Original with original copy of Partial Copyright Licence.
A few pages are in colour.
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Citation
Badescu, I. (2011). The effect of female kinship and relatedness on infant handling in ursine colobus (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/4210