Maternal care styles in primates

considering a New World species

Abstract

When aiming understand the human behavior, comparisons with nonhuman primates are especially relevant to identify homoplasies (similar characteristics that evolve independently in different species). In this paper, we present a two-year longitudinal study on the maternal behavior of capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.) under naturalistic conditions. Our results revel distinct maternal care styles within a continuum ranging from permissiveness (laissez-faire) to protectiveness. The observed development of mothers and infants bond suggests that the dependence period of capuchin monkeys infants involves, in addition to physical maturation processes, the establishment and development of psychological processes associated with the attachment system. It is possible that the variability of maternal styles – resulting from the combination of mothers’ and infants’ characteristics, as well as socioecological contexts, along with the extension of the attachment bond – are responsible for paving the way for different developmental trajectories. This may be one of the mechanisms underlying interindividual differences arise in adult populations, as seen in humans.