Parental failure in captive cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus Oedipus)

• Published in: American journal of primatology Vol. 54; no. 3; pp. 159 - 169
• Main Authors: Bardi, Massimo, Petto, Andrew J., Lee-Parritz, David E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.07.2001; Wiley-Liss
• Subjects: Animal ethology; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Animals, Zoo; Behavior, Animal; Biological and medical sciences; Failure; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; infant abuse; Infant mortality; infant rejection; infant survival; Infants; Male; Mammalia; Mothers; Motivation; New World monkeys; parental competence; parental motivation; Parents; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Regression analysis; Saguinus - psychology; Saguinus oedipus; Social Behavior; Survival Analysis; Vertebrata; Parental behavior; Mortality; Carrying behavior; Breeding behavior; Vertebrata; Litter size; Mammalia; Acquisition process; Health status; Saguinus oedipus; Newborn animal; Primates; Simioidea; Captivity; Alloparental behavior; Developmental stage; Acquired experience
• ISSN: 0275-2565; 1098-2345
• DOI: 10.1002/ajp.1020

Several New World monkey species experience high rates of infant mortality in captivity, and parental failure in the form of infant neglect and abuse is often regarded as one of the leading causes of this problem. We explored a large archival database to assess environmental, familial, and biological variables identified as significant for parental success in previous studies of captive tamarins, through several generations and across several dozen pedigrees. Using a stepwise multiple regression analysis we developed a model including the fewest variables able to identify statistically significant predictors of infant outcome. We found that seven independent variables could predict infant outcome in the colony. The most important appeared to be the presence of helpers with whom parents could share infant carrying. Mother’s experience and litter size were two other variables that contributed to a significant extent to explaining parental failure. Moreover, the model showed that there is a measurable contribution to infant outcome due to the health status of both parents. Finally, we found a distinct role for mothers and fathers, and that parental failure follows different patterns for abuse and rejection. Am. J. Primatol. 54:159–169, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.