Abstract
A 2.4-year-old male chimpanzee in the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania became separated from his mother probably because of contagion of the flu-like sickness. He was adopted alternately by two unrelated immigrant females for at least six days before he was reunited with his mother. This episode is described and analyzed in relation to the babysitter relationships among female chimpanzees. The adaptive significance of the babysitting behavior of nulliparous females is discussed.
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Uehara, S., Nyundo, R. One observed case of temporary adoption of an infant by unrelated nulliparous females among wild chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania. Primates 24, 456–466 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381679
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381679