%0 Journal Article
%A Soldati, Adrian
%A Fedurek, Pawel
%A Crockford, Catherine
%A Adue, Sam
%A Akankwasa, John Walter
%A Asiimwe, Caroline
%A Asua, Jackson
%A Atayo, Gideon
%A Chandia, Boscou
%A Freymann, Elodie
%A Fryns, Caroline
%A Muhumuza, Geresomu
%A Taylor, Derry
%A Zuberbühler, Klaus
%A Hobaiter, Catherine
%+ Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
Chimpanzees, Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
%T Dead-infant carrying by chimpanzee mothers in the Budongo Forest : 
%G eng
%U https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-C4C1-E
%R 10.1007/s10329-022-00999-x
%7 2022-07-10
%D 2022
%* Review method: peer-reviewed
%X It has been suggested that non-human primates can respond to deceased conspecifics in ways that suggest they experience psychological states not unlike humans, some of which could indicate they exhibit a notion of death. Here, we report long-term demographic data from two East African chimpanzee groups. During a combined 40-year observation period, we recorded 191 births of which 68 died in infancy, mostly within the first year. We documented the post-mortem behaviour of the mothers and describe nine occasions where Budongo chimpanzee mothers carried infants for 1-3 days after their death, usually until the body started to decompose. We also observed three additional cases of extended carrying lasting for more than 2 weeks, one of which was followed by the unusual extended carrying of an object and another which lasted 3 months. In each case, the corpses mummified. In addition, we report four instances of recurring dead-infant carrying by mothers, three of whom carried the corpse for longer during the second instance. We discuss these observations in view of functional hypotheses of dead-infant carrying in primates and the potential proximate mechanisms involved in this behaviour.
%K Thanatology,  Death,  Infant corpse carrying, 
Pan troglodytes 
%J Primates
%V 63
%& 497
%P 497 - 508
%@ 0032-83321610-7365