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High levels of infant handling by adult males in Rwenzori Angolan colobus (Colobus angolensis ruwenzorii) compared to two closely related species, C. guereza and C. vellerosus

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Abstract

Infant handling (holding or carrying) by adult males is rare in mammals; however, high levels have been reported in some primates. Though infant handling is a costly behaviour, there are many benefits that male handlers can accrue. Infant handling by males is most conspicuous in platyrrhines and tends to be uncommon in catarrhines. In the latter species, research on male–infant interactions has focused on low-cost behaviours, such as proximity and grooming. However, to better understand the evolution of infant handling by males, more data on its occurrence across the Primate order are essential, even in species where it is relatively uncommon. We compare the occurrence of infant handling by males in three closely related species of catarrhine: Colobus vellerosus, C. guereza, and C. angolensis ruwenzorii. We collected focal animal samples on infants to quantify infant handling rates and durations, and found that adult male C. a. ruwenzorii handled infants much more frequently and for much longer than males in the other two species. We discuss how C. a. ruwenzorii’s unique social organization may explain high levels of infant handling by adult males in this species. More long-term and detailed comparisons of infant handling across species and populations will shed light on how sociality has shaped the evolution of this behaviour in the Primate order.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Katie Carmichael, Robert Koranteng, Hillary Musinguzi, Moses Tumuhaise, Richard Komuhendo, Stella Kezabu, Edward Mujjuzi, Hannington Kakeeto, and Dennis Twinomugisha for their assistance and support during data collection. Funding for work on C. vellerosus was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the University of Calgary, and Sigma Xi. Funding for work on C. guereza was provided by the ABC Grant for Thesis Research at Hunter College and by the National Science Foundation (1521528 to JMR). Funding for work on C. a. ruwenzorii was provided by NSERC and the University of Toronto School of the Environment. Work in Ghana was approved by the Ghana Wildlife Division and the Management Committee of the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary. Work in Uganda was approved by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology. Research on C. vellerosus was approved by the University of Calgary’s Animal Care Committee. Research on C. guereza was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Hunter College. Research on C. a. ruwenzorii was approved by the University of Toronto’s Animal Care Committee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Samantha M. Stead & Julie A. Teichroeb

  2. School of the Environment, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Samantha M. Stead

  3. Département D’Anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    Iulia Bădescu

  4. Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Dominique L. Raboin

  5. Center for Human Evolutionary Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Dominique L. Raboin

  6. Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Pascale Sicotte

  7. Department of Anthropology, Hunter College of City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Jessica M. Rothman & Andrea L. Baden

  8. Department of Anthropology, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Jessica M. Rothman & Andrea L. Baden

  9. The New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA

    Jessica M. Rothman & Andrea L. Baden

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  1. Samantha M. Stead
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Stead, S.M., Bădescu, I., Raboin, D.L. et al. High levels of infant handling by adult males in Rwenzori Angolan colobus (Colobus angolensis ruwenzorii) compared to two closely related species, C. guereza and C. vellerosus. Primates 62, 637–646 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-021-00907-9

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