Abstract
This study describes two infanticides in a free-ranging group of Callithrix flaviceps. In November 2008, four females gave birth within a period of approximately 10 days. On the day after the third birth, the new mother was attacked by an unidentified individual, resulting in the death of one of her infants due to a bite to the top of the head. Five days later, the fourth female gave birth to twins, and the next day, the more socially dominant of the breeding females was observed ingesting the head of one of these infants. All other infants survived until the end of the study. With the exception of the unusual number of births and attacks, the behaviour appeared typical of that recorded in other marmosets, where socially dominant breeding females attack the offspring of subordinates, apparently as a strategy aimed at reducing competition for the services of infant caregivers.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Bardi M, Petto AJ, Lee-Parritz D (1998) Infant handling and survival in captive cotton-top tamarins and common marmosets. Am J Primatol 45:166
Bezerra BM, Souto AS, Schiel N (2007) Infanticide and cannibalism in a free-ranging group of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Am J Primatol 69:945–952
Calegaro-Marques C, Bicca-Marques JC, Azevedo MAO (1995) Two breeding females in a Saguinus fucicollis weddelli group. Neotrop Primates 3:183
Clutton-Brock TH, Brotherton PNM, Smith R, McIlrath GM, Kansky R, Gaynor D, O’Riain MJ, Skinner JD (1998) Infanticide and expulsion of females in a cooperative mammal. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 265:2291–2295
De Vleeschouwer K, van Elsacker L, Lens K (2001) Multiple breeding females in captive groups of golden-headed lion tamarins (Leontopithecus chrysomelas): causes and consequences. Folia Primatol 72:1–10
Dietz JM, Baker AJ (1993) Polygyny and female reproductive success in golden lion tamarins, Leontopithecus rosalia. Anim Behav 46:1067–1078
Digby L (1995) Infant care, infanticide, and female reproductive strategies in polygynous groups of common marmosets (Callitrhix jacchus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 37:51–61
Digby L (2000) Infanticide by female mammals: implications for the evolution of social systems. In: van Schaik CP, Janson CH (eds) Infanticide by males and its implications. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 423–446
Digby LJ, Saltzman W (2009) Balancing cooperation and competition in callitrichid primates: examining the relative risk of infanticide across species. In: Davis LC, Ford SM, Porter LM (eds) The smallest anthropoids: the marmoset callimico radiation. Springer Verlag, New York, pp 172–201
Digby LJ, Ferrari SF, Saltzman W (2007) Callitrichines: the role of competition in cooperatively breeding species. In: Campbell CJ, Fuentes A, MacKinnon KC, Panger M, Bearder SK (eds) Primates in perspective. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 85–106
Ferrari SF (1991) Preliminary report on a field study of Callithrix flaviceps. In: Rylands AB, Bernardes AT (eds) A Primatologia no Brasil–3. Sociedade Brasileira de Primatologia, Belo Horizonte, pp 159–171
Ferrari SF, Rylands AB (1994) Activity budgets and differential visibility in field studies of three marmosets (Callithrix spp.). Folia Primatol 63:78–83
Galetti M, Pedroni F, Paschoal M (1994) Infanticide in the brown howler monkey, Alouatta fusca. Neotrop Primates 2:6–7
Goldizen AW, Mendelson J, van Vlaardingen M, Terborgh J (1996) Saddle-back tamarin (Saguinus fucicollis) reproductive strategies: evidence from a thirteen-year study of a marked population. Am J Primatol 38:57–83
Guimarães A (1998) Ecology and social behavior of buffy-headed marmosets, Callithrix flaviceps. Neotrop Primates 6:51–52
Hilário RR (2009) Ecologia alimentar, uso do hábitat e comportamento de Callithrix flaviceps (Callitrichidae, Primates) na Reserva Biológica Augusto Ruschi, Santa Teresa, ES. Master’s dissertation, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte
Kirkpatrick-Tanner M, Aeschlimann C, Anzerberger G (1996) Occurrence of infanticide within a capitive polyginus group of common marmoset, Callithrix jacchus. Folia Primatol 67:52–58
Lazaro-Perea C, Castro CSS, Harrison R, Araujo A, Arruda MF, Snowdon CT (2000) Behavioral and demographic changes following the loss of the breeding female in cooperatively breeding marmosets. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 48:137–146
Melo L, Pontes ARM, Monteiro da Cruz MAO (2003) Polygyny and infanticide in common marmosets in a fragment of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Folia Primatol 69:372–376
Packer C, Pusey AE (1983) Adaptations of female lions to infanticide by incoming males. Am Nat 121:716–728
Price EC, McGrew WC (1991) Departures from monogamy in colonies of captive cotton-top tamarins. Folia Primatol 57:16–27
Ramirez-Llorens P, Di Bitteti MS, Baldovino MC, Janson CH (2008) Infanticide in black capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella nigritus) in Iguazu National Park, Argentina. Am J Primatol 70:473–484
Roda RA, Pontes ARM (1998) Polygyny and infanticide in common marmosets in a fragment of Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Folia Primatol 69:372–376
Saltzman W, Abbott DH (2005) Diminished maternal responsiveness during pregnancy in multiparous female common marmosets. Horm Behav 47:151–163
Smith AC, Tirado-Herrera ER, Buchanan-Smith HM, Heymann EW (2001) Multiple breeding females and allo-nursing in a wild group of moustached tamarins (Saguinus mystax). Neotrop Primates 9:67–69
Sousa MBC, Albuquerque ACSR, Albuquerque FS, Araújo A, Yamamoto ME, Arruda MF (2005) Behavioral strategies and hormonal profiles of dominant and subordinate common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) females in wild monogamous groups. Am J Primatol 67:37–50
Terborgh J, Goldizen AW (1985) On the mating system of cooperatively breeding saddle-back tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 16:293–299
Tirado-Herrera ER, Knogge C, Heymann EW (2000) Infanticide in a group of wild saddle-back tamarins, Saguinus fuscicollis. Am J Primatol 50:153–157
van Schaik CP, Janson CH (2000) Infanticide by males and its implications. Cambridge University Press, New York
Acknowledgments
We thank Eduardo Mignone, director of the Augusto Ruschi Reserve. Data collection was non-invasive and satisfied the legal requirements of the Brazilian Environment Institute (IBAMA). We thank Leslie Digby and an anonymous reviewer for their suggestions on the manuscript, and Flávio Rodrigues, Adriano Chiarello, Kátia Corrêa, Milene Martins, Sérgio Mendes, Marcos Sobral, Italo Mourthé, Waldney Martins and Frederico Pereira for their assistance with different aspects of the research. The project was supported by Idea Wild and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, R.R.H. by FAPEMIG and CAPES, and S.F.F. by CNPq (process no. 302747/2008-7).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Hilário, R.R., Ferrari, S.F. Double infanticide in a free-ranging group of buffy-headed marmosets, Callithrix flaviceps . J Ethol 28, 195–199 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-009-0182-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-009-0182-8