Competition between females leads to infanticide in some primates
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 - 13:30
in Biology & Nature
An international team of scientists has shed light on cannibalism and infanticide carried out by primates, documenting these acts for the first time in the mustached tamarin (Saguinus mystax). The mothers, which cannot raise their infants without help from male group members, commit infanticide in order to prevent the subsequent death of their offspring if they are stressed and in competition with other females.