Archived Abstracts
Death among geladas (Theropithecus gelada): a broader perspective on mummified infants and primate thanatology.
Authors: Fashing PJ, Nguyen N, Barry TS, Goodale CB, Burke RJ, Jones SCZ, Kerby JT, Lee LM, Nurmi NO, Venkataraman VV.
Responses to death and dying are well documented in humans, but have rarely been studied in other animals. While humans are unique among animals in burying their dead, nonhuman primates are also unique in that females of some species carry dead infants for a few days after death. Over a recent 3¾ year period at Guassa, Ethiopia, we observed 14 wild female gelada monkeys carrying dead infants, including three instances in which infants became mummified while being carried for 13, >16, and >48 days after death. Extensive carrying (>10 days) of dead infants has also been reported in some populations of humanity’s closest relatives – chimpanzees and mountain gorillas – living in extreme climates. We argue that extreme climates facilitate mummification, making the carrying of long dead infants possible, and that extensive carrying of dead infants may not necessarily reflect greater grief or attachment. We also observed the events leading up to the deaths of an ailing mother and her dependent infant and responses by groupmates to their deaths. Both mother and infant were left behind on the days of their deaths, when the group departed the sleeping site to go about their daily activities. We suggest that although wild nonhuman primates may not exhibit ‘compassionate’ behavior toward dying groupmates, perhaps because of the need to find food, the carrying of long dead, mummified infants is more widespread than previously thought.
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