Mother bonobos play a very, very active role in their sons' love lives.
A mother bonobo grooms her young son at the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve in Congo. When he's older, she might go to great lengths to ensure he produces offspring, a new study has found. By Jason Bittel May 20 at 11:00 AM If you think your mom is laying it on thick about producing grandchildren, take heart: At least you’re not a male bonobo.
Scientists have long known that mother bonobos do all of these things, but until now, they’ve never been able to provide evidence that the meddling actually gave their sons an advantage that led to more grand bonobos. The new research, however, documented that wild male bonobos in Congo father three times as many offspring when their moms are still in the picture than bonobos whose mothers have died or left their group.
“I am pretty sure we see these effects in bonobos because females have these high social ranks,” said Martin Surbeck, a biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and lead author of the study. “Where we are less sure is the actual mechanism by which the presence of mums helps their sons.”In a 2010 study, Surbeck and his co-authors observed that bonobo males tend to remain on the outskirts of the group when they don’t have their mothers nearby.
Ammie Kalan, a primatologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology who was not involved in the new study, called it “fascinating” in the way it invokes comparisons to the so-called grandmother hypothesis for human evolution. “That being said, I would find it very interesting to know what has greater predictive value for reproductive success of a bonobo male,” said Kalan, who collaborates with some of the study’s authors. “Is it his mother being present? His mother's rank in the group? Or his own rank?”
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