Infanticide in Nonhuman Primates essays

Infanticide in Nonhuman Primates essays The goal of this paper is to examine the question, why does infanticide occur in nonhuman primates? It will look at possible explanations such as the sexual selection hypothesis, the social pathology hypothesis, and other alternative reasons behind infanticide. Cases of observed infanticide will be explored and then given possible reasons for why the infant in each particular case was killed. One of the mysteries in the world of primates is infanticide. Some of the questions pertaining to infanticide are how does it occur, under what circumstances does it occur, and why does it occur? This paper examines different explanations of infanticide by nonhuman primates and possible answers to those questions. The sexual selection hypothesis is used as the primary explanation of infanticide but alternative explanations and hypotheses, such as the social pathology hypothesis and the resource competition hypothesis, will also be taken into account. One reason for infanticide can be explained through the social pathology hypothesis. (Boggess, Curtin, and Dolhinow as cited by Bartlett, Sussman, and Cheverud 1993) Research done by Phyllis Jay in 1958 at field sites in Orcha and Kaukori concluded that Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus entellus) life was very peaceful. On the contrary, in the early 1960s a Primatologist named Sugiyama, observed a high number of adult male langurs treating infants violently at a site in Dharwar. At Sugiyamas site social change occurred frequently and disturbed the lives of langurs and other species in the area. Sugiyama noted that when a new male took over a troop, the death of an infant would follow. (Sugiyama as cited by Rees 2001) The death of the infants at Dharwar and other sites in India, according to the social pathology hypothesis, were the result of a growing population of people and a declining territory of land in which the langurs lived in. (Boggess, Curtin, and Dulhinow a...