Infant-related influences on birth intervals in rhesus monkeys

Abstract

That a mother''s relationship with her infant could influence her subsequent reproductive history can be argued as follows. A rhesus monkey infant whose next sibling is to be born in a succeeding birth season could compete with it by trying to postpone the date when its mother next conceives. If the mother preferred a shorter delay than the infant, processes of conflict and negotiation involving the two could show in some of the behavioral interactions constituting their relationship, e.g., a mother could try to hasten the onset of her next pregnancy by trying to promote more independent behavior in her infant, perhaps by rejecting some of its bids for contact. Studies on a rhesus monkey colony and other colonies which support this argument are reported.