Sept. 13, 2007 — A big, warm hug works wonders, even in the monkey world. Female spider monkeys without infants, it seems, will hug mother monkeys in exchange for permission to kiss, sniff and touch their babies.
The discovery, which will be outlined in an upcoming issue of Animal Behavior, not only shows how much primates, especially females, value infants, but it also reveals that an embrace conveys good intentions and provides comfort in primate species other than humans.
"An embrace is defined as one monkey approaching another monkey and wrapping their arms around them, in very much the same way as humans do, with one arm wrapped around the neck and the other around the waist," lead author Kathy Slater told Discovery News.
Slater, a researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of Chester, added that the embrace is often accompanied by a "kiss on the cheek" and a "pectoral sniff," when one monkey moves its head next to the other monkey's chest scent glands to get a whiff.
She said both males and females tend to hug when they haven't seen each other for a while. Males will also sometimes hug each other in front of females "to reduce tension and prevent aggression" in a situation that can foster competition.
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But Slater's observation that females without young often embrace new mothers is new. She and her team observed hugs received by 15 such mothers in two communities at Otoch Ma'ax Yetel Kooh reserve in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
In most instances, a recently embraced mother would grant the hugger permission to handle her infant, which the mother carries for the first year of its life. The mother does not release the baby, but grants the hugger permission to sit in close proximity and handle the infant.
