Abstract
The behavioral development of a malformed male infant in a free-ranging Japanese monkey group, whose hands were completely missing and whose hind feet were distorted, was investigated during the first one year of life, by comparison with normal infants. In the first few weeks of life, the malformed infant was not able to move by himself and was almost completely dependent on his mother's help. He gradually became able to creep with his forelimb elbows and distorted hind feet at about the first month of life, and was able to walk bipedally on his hind feet, though unstably, after the sixth month of life. His locomotor ability, however, was essentially inferior to that of normal infants throughout the first one year of life. His social interactions with the group members were different from those of normal infants. Normal infants increased their interactions with sameaged infants or older juveniles through active behavior-like play, whereas the malformed infant developed relations particularly with adults through behavior such as passive body contact. The conditions for survival of the observed malformed infant are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berkson, G., 1970. Defective infants in a feral monkey group.Folia Primatol., 12:284–289.
————, 1973. Social responses to abnormal infant monkeys.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 38: 583–586.
————, 1977. The social ecology of defects in primates. In:Primate Bio-social Development: Biological, Social and Ecological Determinants,S. Chevalier-Skolnikoff &F. E. Poirier (eds.), Garland Pub., New York, pp. 189–204.
Fedigan, L. M. &L. Fedigan, 1977. The social development of a handicapped infant in a free-living troop of Japanese monkeys. In:Primate Bio-social Development: Biological, Social and Ecological Determinants,S. Chevalier-Skolnikoff &F. E. Poirier (eds.), Garland Pub., New York, pp. 205–222.
Furuya, Y., 1966. On the malformation occurred in the Gagyusan troop of wild Japanese monkeys.Primates, 7: 488–492.
Hinde, R. A., 1974.Biological Bases of Human Social Behavior. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York.
Homma, T., 1980. Sequential pattern of limb anormalies in Japanese monkeys on Awajishima island.Primates, 21: 20–30.
Iwamoto, M., 1967. Morphological observations on congenital malformation of limbs in the Japanese monkey.Primates, 8: 247–270.
Koyama, T. &H. Fujii, 1981. Comparative studies on gregariousness and social structure among seven feralMacaca fuscata groups. In:Primate Behavior and Sociobiology: Selected Papers (Part B) of the VIIIth Congress of the International Primatological Society, Florence, 7–12 July, 1980,A. B. Chiarelli &R. S. Corruccini (eds.), Springer-Verlang, Berlin, pp. 52–63.
Lindburg, D. G., 1969. Behavior of infant rhesus monkeys with thalidomide-induced malformations: a pilot-study.Psychon. Sci., 15: 55–56.
Rosenblum, L. A. &K. P. Youngstein, 1974. Developmental changes in compensatory dyadic responses in mother and infant monkeys. In:The Effects of the Infant on Its Caregiver,M. Lewis &L. A. Rosenblum (eds.), Jhon Wiley & Sons, New York, pp. 141–161.
Rosenson, L. M., 1977. The response of some prosimian primate mothers to their own anesthetized infants.Primates, 18: 579–588.
Schaller, G. B., 1963.The Mountain Gorilla. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Yoshihiro, S., S. Goto, M. Minezawa, M. Muramatsu, Y. Saito, H. Sugita &H. Nigi, 1979. Frequency of occurrence, morphology and causes of congenital malformation of limbs in the Japanese monkey.Ecotoxicol. & Env. Safety, 3: 458–470.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Nakamichi, M., Fujii, H. & Koyama, T. Behavioral development of a malformed infant in a free-ranging group of Japanese monkeys. Primates 24, 52–66 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381453
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381453