Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist with a Twist

Animal Parenting

Maternal Grief In Primates

The continued carrying and care of deceased infants is a clear and well-established pattern of behaviour that occurs across many primate species. What is more difficult for us to understand are the emotional correlates of [...]
Animal Reproduction

Menopause in Toothed Whales

The only other group of animals that experiences menopause to the extent that humans do is the toothed whale. Short-finned pilot whale and ecotype resident killer whale females can live to the age of ninety; [...]
Animal Parenting

Mistaken Moms and the Misdirected Care Hypothesis

First-time moms may be more likely to allonurse newborns that don’t belong to them because they lack the experience and knowledge of multiparous or older moms. This situation is described by the misdirected care hypothesis, [...]

Gelada Baboon Mothers Carry Their Deceased Infants

September 29, 2021 0

Gelada baboon mothers have been observed to carry their deceased infants for extremely varied amounts of time – less than an hour to over forty-eight days. The mother who carried her infant for the longest […]

Milk-Stealing Offspring and Allonursing

September 22, 2021 0

Some newborns can take milk from moms other than their own. In these cases, it’s important to discern whether the mom has a hand in mistakenly identifying an allosuckling pup for her own pup, or […]

Why Do Primate Moms Continue Maternal Care For A Deceased Infant?

September 15, 2021 1

Multiple cases of primate mothers carrying and providing care to deceased infants have been observed. From chimpanzees and geladas to spider, squirrel, Japanese, and snub-nosed monkeys, mothers of diverse species have been known to carry […]