THE EVOLUTION OF NONMATERNAL CARETAKING AMONG ANTHROPOID PRIMATES - DO HELPERS HELP

Non-maternal infant care among nonhuman primates has frequently been i nvestigated from the perspective of the caretaker. Here we examine whe ther allocaretaking behavior provides direct reproductive benefits to mothers, Comparative analyses that control for the effects of allometr y and phylogeny reveal that allocaretaking behavior correlates with re latively fast infant growth and reproduction, but is not associated wi th the production of large infants. These results are consistent with those from studies of other taxa; primate helpers appear to increase t he reproductive success of female breeders. In addition, our findings contrast with those derived from traditional allometric analyses and u nderscore the importance of controlling for the potentially confoundin g effects of phylogeny in comparative analyses.