Parent-offspring facial resemblance increases with age in rhesus macaques.
Proc Biol Sci
; 285(1886)2018 09 12.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30209226
ABSTRACT
Kin recognition is a key ability which facilitates the acquisition of inclusive fitness benefits and enables optimal outbreeding. In primates, phenotype matching is considered particularly important for the recognition of patrilineal relatives, as information on paternity is unlikely to be available via social familiarity. Phenotypic cues to both paternal and maternal relatedness exist in the facial features of humans and other primates. However, theoretical models suggest that in systems with uncertainty parentage it may be adaptive for offspring to conceal such cues when young, in order to avoid potential costs of being discriminated against by unrelated adults. Using experienced human raters, we demonstrate in a computer-based task that detection of parent-offspring resemblances in the faces of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) increases significantly with offspring age. Moreover, this effect is specific to information about kinship, as raters were extremely successful at discriminating individuals even among the youngest animals. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence in non-humans for the age-dependent expression of visual cues used in kin recognition.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Fenótipo
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Percepção Visual
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Face
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Macaca mulatta
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Proc Biol Sci
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Alemanha