Speakers > Judith Burkart

Judith Burkart

U. Zurich, Switzerland

Marmoset Behavior - Are female helpers different?

Marmosets are broadly used in neuroscience and evolutionary anthropology because of their sophisticated social behaviors, in particular their prosociality. Whereas the convergent origin of prosociality in marmosets and humans is well understood and can be linked to the high level of allomaternal care in these species (i.e. cooperative breeding), variation in prosociality within marmosets is largely unexplored. Female helpers appear particularly variable, by sometimes – yet not always - providing fewer services to immatures or other group members. We analyze these patterns in the light of group stability, interdependence, and slight differences in reproductive tactics between male and female marmosets, highlighting that variation in marmoset prosociality is meaningful rather than mere noise. This systematic variation should be acknowledged when using marmosets to study proximate mechanisms of behavior.