Paternal kin recognition and infant care in white‐faced capuchins (<i>Cebus capucinus</i>)

Abstract

Evidence for paternal kin recognition and paternally biased behaviors is mixed among primates. We investigate whether infant handling behaviors exhibit paternal kin biases in wild white‐faced capuchins monkeys (Cebus capucinus)by comparing interactions between infants and genetic sires, potential sires, siblings (full sibling, maternal, and paternal half‐siblings) and unrelated handlers. We used a linear mixed model approach to analyze data collected on 21 focal infants from six groups in Sector Santa Rosa, Costa Rica. Our analyses suggest that the best predictor of adult and subadult male interactions with an infant is the male's dominance status, not his paternity status. We found that maternal siblings but not paternal siblings handled infants more than did unrelated individuals. We conclude that maternal but not paternal kinship influence patterns of infant handling in white‐faced capuchins, regardless of whether or not they can recognize paternal kin. Am. J. Primatol. 78:659–668, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.