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Prolonged care and cannibalism of infant corpse by relatives in semi-free-ranging capuchin monkeys

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  • Responses to Death and Dying: Primates and Other Mammals
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Abstract

Cannibalism is a quite common behaviour in animals that can have survival value when food is scarce or in the case of overpopulation. Conversely, cannibalism can also increase pathogen transmission and reduce fitness. In primates, some cases of cannibalism are associated with infanticide or are performed by mothers after their newborn has died (filial cannibalism). We report here the first observation of cannibalism, specifically infant cannibalism, in a semi-free-ranging group of brown capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella). The baby was likely stillborn, as parts of the cranial bones were missing and no fresh injuries were visible. After half a day of taking care of the dead infant, the mother ate part of the corpse’s skin and the highly nutritional viscera, possibly thereby compensating for the physiological costs of pregnancy. After attentively watching his mother’s behaviour, the older brother of the dead newborn similarly ate parts of the corpse. Although we cannot rule out idiosyncrasy and vertical social transmission, it is possible that cannibalism is a normal—albeit rare—part of the behavioural repertoire of capuchin monkeys.

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Fig. 1

(photo credits: G. Tonachella)

Fig. 2

(photo credits: G. Tonachella)

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to R. Cozzolino and Fondazione Ethoikos for the financial support, and to Y. Larmet and his entire team for allowing them to conduct the observations at the Primate Centre of Strasbourg University. Thank you to the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle for logistic support.

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Author notes

  1. Mélanie Bey and Giordana Tonachella contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 7206 Eco-anthropologie (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle-CNRS-Univ. Paris 7), Musée de l’Homme, 17 place Trocadéro, 75116, Paris, France

    Cinzia Trapanese, Mélanie Bey, Giordana Tonachella & Shelly Masi

  2. Centre de Primatologie de l’Université de Strasbourg, Fort Foch, 67207, Niederhausbergen, France

    Cinzia Trapanese & Hélène Meunier

  3. Università degli Studi di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi, Turin, Italy

    Giordana Tonachella

  4. Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Adaptatives, UMR 7364, CNRS et Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, 67000, France

    Hélène Meunier

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  1. Cinzia Trapanese
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Correspondence to Cinzia Trapanese or Shelly Masi.

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Trapanese, C., Bey, M., Tonachella, G. et al. Prolonged care and cannibalism of infant corpse by relatives in semi-free-ranging capuchin monkeys. Primates 61, 41–47 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-019-00747-8

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