[Animals] The mourning of primate mothers: they carry their dead children for days

[FNX Magokiler]

The animal world also has its rituals when a loved one dies, proof of this is the recently published research on the pain that primate mothers feel when their newborns die.

According to information shared by Business Insider, scientists studying these cases noted that mothers carry the deceased for days as a way of signaling that they are in pain and mourning.

Previously, videos and photos of these animals carrying the bodies of their children had been reported, this puzzled the researchers and they began to conduct studies on this fact.

In an experiment conducted by BBC Earth in 2017, a group of Semnopithecus could be seen approaching a robot that pretended to be a dead baby semnopithecus. The group of primates slowly approached the body and together they cried and hugged.

Do primates grieve?
Scientists studying how chimps and gorillas cope with the death of a newborn believe that the terrible sight of them carrying their dead babies for days is a sign that they are in pain.

 

 

In a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, more than 400 published cases of a primate mother reacting to the death of her baby were compared. From these situations, 40 apes picked up the bodies of their children and carried them on top.

This behavior extends, according to the report, to more primates, including great apes like gorillas and chimpanzees and some monkeys like macaques and baboons. This suggested that it is a behavior passed down over millions of years.

Elisa Fernández Fueyo, author of the study from University College London, told Insider that “Behavior probably evolved in almost all primates after they diverged from lorises, lemurs, etc. It was probably there in early humans. "

"But since apes and monkeys evolved separately from humans, the way they cry probably diverged," she added.

Three reasons that would define the duel
In the study, Fueyo pointed out that there are three important factors that influence whether or not the mother will pick up the baby after her death.

In the first place, the mother's age influences since if they are younger, they will be more likely to carry the dead baby.

The second reason was how newborns died, if they died traumatic such as a predator attack or an accident, mothers would not react in such a way. However, if they died of disease or stillbirth, it was possible for them to be picked up.

And thirdly, there was the age of the young, the younger they died, the longer they were carried.

Based on these points, the scientists formulated a hypothesis that primates can learn about death "in a similar way to humans," according to the study's co-author and professor of evolutionary anthropology at University College London, Alecia Carter. it's a statement.

Last conclusions
Ultimately, the conclusions were that, the older the ape was, the easier it was for her to accept that if her son did not move it was because he was dead and could no longer do anything about it.

"It may take experience to understand that death results in a lasting 'termination of duty,' which is one of the concepts of death that humans have," Carter said in the statement.

On the other hand, it is more likely to accept the death of the baby if its body was destroyed in an accident or by the attack of a predator. Another hypothesis is that if the traumatic event drove the mother away, this may prevent her from supporting her child. Even if she had the desire to.

Fueyo shared that for mothers, the younger their baby is, the stronger the bond they create. "It may be impossible for them to break the bond right away, causing the mother to wear it for longer," the expert told Insider.

 

https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/ciencia-y-tecnologia/ciencia/2021/09/15/el-duelo-de-las-madres-primates-cargan-a-sus-hijos-muertos-durante-dias.shtml