Male gorillas that keep five times more babies | Science

In the case of gorillas, men who help women with their babies benefit. Advantages? More babies. A new study of wild wild gorillas in Rwanda found that those who spend the most time caring for and feeding their babies – offspring and their offspring – have about five times as many offspring as males who do not help with the little ones.

Scientists say this is surprising, as male surveillance is generally not considered a smart breeding strategy for primate species where access to females is extremely competitive. Rather, researchers thought that the most effective strategy for men was to devote more time and energy to replacing men than others, as chimpanzees do.

This strategy still works for many male gorillas, which dominate small female harems. But in 40% of the mountain gorilla groups studied at the Karisoke Research Center of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, there is more than one male in a group, sometimes even nine. And these men must be ingenious to attract the attention of a woman.

According to the new analysis published today in The World of the Mother, the heart of the mother goes through her offspring. Scientific reports on nature. The genetic paternity data for 23 adult men and 109 infants, as well as 10 to 38 hours of observations for each male gorilla, suggest that the more "babysitters" will spend time with them, the more successful they will be. in breeding will be great. The findings could even have implications for the evolution of paternal care in humans, since we are the only other kind of monkey whose males are willing to help with children.