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PubMed2005

[Anonymous birth and neonaticide in Tyrol].

BACKGROUND: In 2001 the Austrian government provided the legal means that formally enabled "anonymous birth": a woman can now give birth in any hospital in Austria without giving her name or insurance number, the baby is taken into care by social services and placed with adoptive parents. The cost of the hospital stay is covered from public funds. These measures were put into effect after some highly publicized cases of infant abandonment and neonaticide in Austria. METHODS: In the mostly rural and small-town province of Tyrol province in western Austria (687,000 inhabitants, 7000 births per year) four cases of neonaticide were discovered in the years from 1996 to 2004. One child was abandoned inside a hospital. Since 2001 two women have made use of the "anonymous birth" option. Neither had had any pregnancy controls, both showed up at or near term with contractions. They delivered healthy infants that were then taken into care by local adoption services. Both women were extensively counselled by psychologists, social workers, medical and midwifery staff and both insisted on their original decision to remain anonymous. A few weeks later one of the women found herself at the centre of a criminal investigation for infanticide after anonymous letters were sent to family members insinuating she had done away with the child. Police stopped that investigation when hospital staff confirmed that the woman had had an "anonymous" delivery. RESULTS: Despite the option of legal "anonymous" birth free of charge in modern hospitals there are still cases of infant abandonment and neonaticide in Austria. It is proposed that the women who opt for anonymous birth may not be the women who would otherwise kill their babies. Instead, it appears that the women opted for anonymity to escape the probably well-intentioned but overbearing attention of their families and of social services. It is doubtful that the option of anonymous birth will lead to a complete disappearance of infanticide and infant abandonment in Austria.

Adoption↗
PubMed2006

Trend and causes of neonatal mortality in the Kassena-Nankana district of northern Ghana, 1995-2002.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the trend and causes of neonatal deaths in a rural district in northern Ghana. METHODS: Descriptive analysis of data collected from the Navrongo Demographic Surveillance System and verbal autopsies conducted on all neonatal deaths from 1995-2002. RESULTS: Of 1118 recorded neonatal deaths 1068 (95.5%) could be analysed. Only 13.2% of deaths occurred at the health facility; 62.7% occurred in the early neonatal period, with prematurity (38%) and birth injuries (19%) as leading causes. Infectious causes (66%) were the major contributors to late neonatal deaths. Infanticide accounted for 4.9% of all neonatal deaths. The cause-specific mortality rate for neonatal tetanus remained under 2.5% throughout the 8-year period. Overall, the neonatal mortality rate declined at an average of 2.5 per 1000 live births per year: Down by nearly 50% from 40.9 (95%C.I. 34.1-46.8) in 1995 to 20.5 (95%C.I.17.3-22.7) in 2002. CONCLUSION: The various health interventions undertaken in this district have had the collateral effect of causing decline in neonatal mortality. Neonatal mortality could be further reduced by preventing and treating neonatal infections, having skilled attendance at delivery and the elimination of infanticide. Data from demographic surveillance sites may be useful in monitoring trends in child mortality.

Birth Injuries↗
PubMed1994

Estimation of gestational age from hand and foot length.

Abortion, foeticide and infanticide have been practised from time immemorial by both primitive and civilized societies. Establishing the precise duration of gestation is an important point in the total medical evidentiary picture of infanticide. In this study, an attempt has been made to establish the gestational age of the foetus using foot and hand length. This study will be of help in establishing the gestational age when the foetus is fragmented. Results obtained were significant in establishing the gestational age.

Abortion, Illegal↗
PubMed1983

Homicide as a cause of pediatric mortality in the United States.

Homicide is a major cause of pediatric mortality. National law enforcement data were analyzed to characterize and differentiate neonaticide, infanticide, filicide, and overall child homicide. Results include the following: Neonaticides often involved parents or unidentified perpetrators and occurred proportionately more in rural areas than did other types of child homicide. Infanticide appeared to be one end of the spectrum of child homicide and not a distinct entity. Filicide rates were higher for sons than daughters and the crime was committed by more fathers than mothers. Overall child homicide predominately involved young male offenders who were acquaintances of the victim. At remarkably early ages, homicide characteristics began to resemble those of adult homicide. Further research in this area should attempt to gain detailed information concerning the child, his family, and their social network. Pediatricians should be actively involved in determining risk factors for child homicide and in screening children for risk when these factors are determined.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Are Eulemur species pair-bonded? Social organization and mating strategies in Eulemur fulvus rufus from 1988-1995 in southeast Madagascar.

Strong social relationships have been reported between adult male and female prosimian primates in the genera Eulemur and Varecia and have been referred to as "pair-bonding." It has been hypothesized that females benefit from these affiliative relationships with an adult male by having protection against infanticidal males, implying that the male member of the dyad also is the father of her offspring. I evaluated this hypothesis and whether or not the term pair-bond was appropriate by using field data collected on two groups of Eulemur fulvus rufus in southeastern Madagascar. Four predictions were tested: 1) male-female dyads will be stable throughout the year, 2) male-female dyads will be more prevalent during the mating season, and/or the birth season when infants would be most vulnerable to infanticide, 3) females should copulate either exclusively or most often with their male dyad partner than with other males during the mating and/or birth season, and 4) rates of aggression will be higher between males or between females and males who are not their dyad partner. Predictions 1, 2, and 3 were not supported and Prediction 4 was only partially supported. Adult male-female dyads however, were more prominent in feeding contexts during the mating season and food scarcity periods. Most aggression occurred during feeding between males and nondyad group members. Since female feeding rates were often higher when feeding near male dyad partners, adult male-female dyads may serve as a way of increasing foraging efficiency for the female, which in turn may influence reproductive success. All males who were dyad partners also copulated first and more frequently with all females. It is suggested that "dyad" is a better descriptive term than pair-bonding for the social patterns observed since dyads were comprised of same-sex individuals, were temporary, and did not exclusively serve a reproductive function.

Aggression↗
PubMed1985

Viability and the moral status of the fetus.

The viability of the fetus has played a significant part in the framing of abortion legislation, but the use of viability as a criterion represents a compromise which is conceptually unclear and which fails to satisfy either side in the abortion debate. Both conservative and liberal views on abortion regard fetal development as morally irrelevant. For the moderate (or gradualist) view some point in the development must be found which indicates a change in the moral status of the fetus. Since viability changes according to available techniques for neonatal care it cannot be the criterion. Alternative criteria are surveyed and it is concluded that the onset of sensation is a significant transition point beyond which abortion and infanticide cannot be morally distinguished. It is suggested that either legislation should be amended to prohibit abortion after 18 to 20 weeks, or abortion to full term should be permitted and the possibility of legislation for infanticide be envisaged.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed2003

Infant mortality after takeovers in wild Ethiopian hamadryas baboons.

In this work we report the first observational evidence of infanticide in wild hamadryas baboons. The study group inhabits the lowlands of the northern Rift Valley in Ethiopia and has been under observation for over 1,200 hr, on and off, since October 1996. Here we report observations from August and September 2002 of the consequences of two takeovers of known females with black infants. After the first takeover, the respective infant disappeared and was presumed dead within 11 days of the takeover. After the second takeover, the infant incurred repeated severe aggression from its mother's new leader male and eventually died 4 days after the takeover. We interpret these findings as support for the sexual selection hypothesis regarding male infanticide. We suggest that hamadryas leader males usually protect infants born into their units, but may withhold this protection-or even directly attack and kill infants-after takeovers.

Aggression↗
PubMed2005

Behavioral strategies and hormonal profiles of dominant and subordinate common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) females in wild monogamous groups.

New insights into the mating systems of common marmosets suggest that they are mainly monogamous, although polygyny and polyandry occasionally occur. Long-term monitoring of wild common marmosets has shown that some reports of polygynous groups (i.e., groups that contain more than one reproducing female) in fact indicate an unbalanced reproductive output associated with extragroup copulation. In this study we describe the behavioral and hormonal profiles of common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) females living in three wild monogamous groups (Q, PBf, and T), varying from five to 11 individuals, at Nísia Floresta field station, RN, Brazil. The mating system of the groups was previously characterized in terms of affiliative, sexual, and mate-guarding behaviors. Behavioral data were collected once a week, and fecal samples were collected at least twice a week for 10-16 months, depending on the group. A preferential allogrooming relationship was recorded between dominant males and females. Under field conditions the reproductive inhibition of subordinate females appears to be more behavioral than hormonal, since subordinate females of the three groups ovulated and two conceived during the study. In these cases, the subordinate and dominant females reproduced 1 month apart, and infanticide (one case confirmed and one suspected) appeared to be part of the reproductive strategy of dominant females. Following the infanticide, ovarian inhibition (group T) or emigration and return to the natal group (group PBf) were observed. In the third group (Q) the subordinate female showed hormonal profiles compatible with pregnancy, but no infants were seen. These findings reflect the different alternatives that wild subordinate common marmoset females use to reproduce.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

An ill child among mid-Holocene foragers of Southern Africa.

The skeletal remains of an infant from a southwest South African rock shelter at Byneskranskop show pervasive abnormalities that are consistent with the effects of hypertrophic (hyperplastic) rickets. Diagnostic features include beading of the costochondral junctions of the ribs, flaring and tilting of the metaphyses, and cupping of the distal ulna, as well as general skeletal hypertrophy. With an uncalibrated accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon date of 4820 +/- 90 BP (TO-9531), this is a very early instance of the condition, among foragers whose environment and diet make dietary shortages of active vitamin D or dietary calcium improbable. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios indicate a mixed diet, including marine as well as terrestrial protein. Solicitous care maintained the sick infant to an estimated age of 3.5-5 months; it was buried in a manner like that of other deceased group members. This case suggests that if infanticide was practiced, it was an option only during the immediate perinatal period, when this infant would have appeared normal. This is consistent with documentation of infanticide practices among historic foragers from southern Africa.

Age Determination by Skeleton↗
PubMed1984

Tail raising by baboon mothers toward immigrant males.

Behavioral responses of adult females to recently immigrated adult males were examined in two groups of chacma baboons in the Moremi Wildlife Reserve, Botswana. Mothers carrying infants respond negatively by raising their tails, avoiding, and screaming when in proximity to immigrant males. These responses are not given by mothers when their infants are away from them or by females who do not have infants. Also, the negative responses by mothers carrying infants are given only to immigrant males and not to long-term resident males. These observations are in concordance with the growing evidence of infanticide in savanna baboon societies: mothers would be expected to show negative responses to potentially aggressive males, particularly immigrants. There was evidence to suggest that mothers respond negatively to immigrants only insofar as these males could not have sired their infants. If confirmed by subsequent observations, this result would lend support to the sexual selection model of infanticide.

Aggression↗
PubMed2005

Ontogeny of the transition from killer to caregiver in dwarf hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) with biparental care.

Biparental Phodopus campbelli and uniparental P. sungorus juvenile litters (2 males, 2 females) both consumed amniotic fluid and placenta during the birth of younger siblings. Three days later, P. campbelli juveniles were most responsive to a displaced younger sibling. Thus, P. campbelli are responsive to pups as juvenile alloparents and as new parents; however, at intervening ages, infanticidal attack (bite) was seen. At 5, 7, 9, 11, or 13 weeks of age, male and female P. campbelli were given a 5-min test with an unrelated, 3-day-old, anesthetized pup. Females attacked more often than males, yet pup-retrieval rates did not differ. Female aggression increased with age and was replaced by retrieval behavior 3 days after parturition. Male attack ceased after a birth, but parental behavior did not increase, remaining below the rate for new fathers tested with their own awake pup. Over repeated testing, behavior in one test did not predict behavior in another. Transitions from caregiving alloparent to infanticidal adult and back to parental care were clear in females, but less discrete with this stimulus paradigm in these highly paternal males.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Effect of strange male odour on parental care in lactating female mice

This paper analyses the behaviour of lactating female outbred mice, Mus musculus domesticusin the presence of male conspecific odours. When olfactory cues were left in the environment by a sexually naive adult male, a potentially infanticidal animal, the mother took longer to reach her litter following 30 min of separation. Odours left by the sexual partner, by an unknown male of parental status, or by a young naive male did not modify the mother's behaviour, compared with the control situation (absence of male odour). The number of ultrasonic calls of pups varied according to the characteristics of the male but did not modify the behaviour of the dam. Females took longer to reach pups on day 8 of lactation than on days 4 or 12. We suggest adaptive reasons why females take longer to reach pups when the situation is more risky. We tested the hypothesis that the loss of an 8-day-old litter is more expensive, in term of the mother's future reproductive success, than the loss of younger and older litters. Females conceived a new litter within a few days (the inter-birth interval varied according to the age of the litter previously removed) but, even though no difference in size and weight of litters was recorded, females that had the litter removed on day 8 postpartum (compared with days 4 and 12) suffered from a higher mortality rate in the next litter. We suggest that the time the mother takes to reach her pups in the presence of a potentially infanticidal male could represent a measure of parental investment.Copyright 1997 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour1997The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour

Journal Article↗
PubMed1998

Proximate and ultimate causes of adoption in ring-billed gulls.

From 1987 to 1994, the annual frequency of adoption by breeding pairs at a Lake Erie ring-billed gull, Larus delawarensis, colony ranged from 3 to 37% (average 8%/year, N=7 years) and, on average, foster parents raised 0.5 fewer of their own chicks to fledging than pairs that did not adopt. The key evolutionary question is: why do some individuals apparently suffer the costs associated with a behaviour that appears to enhance the fitness of others? From 1992 to 1995, I investigated the proximate and ultimate causes of adoption in ring-billed gulls from the perspectives of both the foster parents and adopted chicks, and tested predictions that differentiated between various competing adaptive and nonadaptive hypotheses that have been proposed to explain it. While I was able to demonstrate a breeding cost, I failed to identify any benefits to foster parents. Thus, the adaptive hypotheses that rely on the foster parents benefiting were not supported (e.g. kin selection, reciprocal altruism, acquisition of parenting experience). From the foster parent's perspective, adoption was mediated through errors in parent-offspring recognition. Under natural conditions, most fostering pairs were tending small chicks (<6 days old) at the time of adoptions; in chick-transfer experiments, resident parents did not discriminate against foreign chicks until their own chicks were 7-9 days old. Chicks (N=25) that subsequently abandoned their natal nests were lighter, and grew at a slower rate, than chicks that survived to fledging in their home broods. Thus, departing chicks were at a survival disadvantage in their home broods. Chicks that gained acceptance into foreign broods where they were older/larger than the resident chicks realized high survival at the expense of their foster siblings and parents. Based upon individual growth rates and the corresponding survival probabilities, disadvantaged chicks approximately doubled their survival chances through foster care. Why has selection not eliminated adoption? I argue that adoption is an evolutionary arms race between the two principle actor groups; disadvantaged chicks, which benefit through foster care, and host parents, which avoid providing foster care (e.g. infanticide). In ring-billed gulls, selection has failed to eliminate adoption because the long-term reproductive cost (estimated at 4%, this study) of an occasional adoption is probably offset by the relatively higher costs associated with stricter kin discrimination mechanisms (e.g. parental infanticide). (c) 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Central males instead of multiple pairs in redfronted lemurs, Eulemur fulvus rufus (Primates, Lemuridae)?

In group-living Malagasy primates (Lemuriformes), certain demographic and morphological traits deviate both from theoretical expectations derived from sexual selection theory and from patterns in better-known anthropoid primates. Lemurs lack sexual dimorphism in body and canine size and live in relatively small multimale-multifemale groups with, on average, even adult sex ratios, despite a polygynous mating system. In addition, the majority of gregarious lemurs are cathemeral, that is, they are regularly active both day and night. The social system of cathemeral lemurs has been considered an adaptation to their activity pattern. If so, groups should consist of multiple pairs that aggregate during diurnal activity and range separately at night in response to predation and infanticide risk, respectively. Moreover, mating privileges should exist between pair partners. We tested this hypothesis with data collected on two groups of wild redfronted lemurs in western Madagascar during 1023 focal animal hours spanning 4 months including the mating season. In addition, data on spatial relations were collected on 12 nights. We found no differences in group cohesion between day and night and no behavioural evidence for multiple male-female pairs. Instead, one male in each group monopolized social interactions with all females. However, females copulated with all resident males, although most often with the central male. Thus, basic predictions of the cathemerality hypothesis are unsupported. Multiple matings and indications of oestrous synchrony can be viewed as female counterstrategies against infanticide, whereas reproductive strategies of redfronted lemur males remain obscure. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Oxytocin changes in males over the reproductive cycle in the monogamous, biparental California mouse, Peromyscus californicus.

Levels of plasma oxytocin in male Peromyscus californicus were assessed across the reproductive cycle to provide a foundation for subsequent studies of the hormonal basis of paternal behavior and pair bonds. In Experiment 1, plasma oxytocin levels were significantly higher in expectant fathers than in virgin males or fathers. Plasma oxytocin increased in expectant fathers 1 day postcopulation and remained elevated for the first 15 days of gestation. Plasma oxytocin declined by Day 20 of gestation and oxytocin levels remained low in fathers throughout the lactational period. Oxytocin levels among expectant fathers did not differ between parental and nonparental males or between infanticidal and noninfanticidal males, suggesting that plasma oxytocin may not be involved in the prepartum onset of paternal behavior or the inhibition of infanticide. In Experiment 2, plasma oxytocin levels also did not differ between males that were parental or non-parental prepartum or postpartum. However, males separated from their mate and pups on the day of birth had elevated oxytocin levels on Day 3 postpartum compared to males that remained with their family, suggesting that disruption of the pair bond and/or absence of the young affects plasma oxytocin levels in males. This possibility remains to be determined.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Parturition influences initial pup preferences at later onset of maternal behavior in primiparous rats.

Initial maternal responsiveness as a function of varying pup stimuli was assessed in primiparous Long-Evans rats. Pups were removed during parturition and the dams tested beginning 24 hr later. These dams were most likely to respond maternally towards newborn (0-2-day-old) rat pups (100%) and 6-8-day-old hamsters, which are the size of newborn rats (83.3%). In contrast, dams were significantly less likely to respond maternally towards newborn hamsters (50%) and 8-10-day-old rats (16.7%), pups which are half as large and twice as large, respectively, as newborn rats; indeed, dams were likely to attack these pups (33.3% and 25%, respectively). The maternal response (less than or equal to 1 hr) to dead newborn rats was similar to that towards live newborn rats, except that fewer dams retrieved dead pups rapidly (less than or equal to 1 min). Cesarean-delivered dams did not display higher maternal responsiveness towards 0-2 than towards 8-10-day-old rats. Further, whereas no parturition-experienced dam displayed infanticide towards newborn rats, 21.9% of primiparous Cesarean-delivered dams did. Thus, the exogenous and/or endogenous stimuli associated with parturition enhance selective maternal responsiveness and diminish infanticide towards pups the size of newborn rats.

Aggression↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Neurobehavioural development of the golden hamster.

The aim of this study was to establish a developmental profile for the golden hamster by using a systematic sequence of test procedures. One experimentally naive litter was tested each day from 0 to 25 days of postnatal age. The appearance of developmental landmarks (physical features and reflexes), spontaneous behaviour in an open field, homing behaviour and rota rod performance were studied. Infant mortality through infanticide was recorded in undisturbed and tested hamsters. The results indicated that most of the tests employed in the present study can be applied usefully in the evaluation of the neurobehavioural development of the golden hamster. The developmental profile for this species is described in detail. In comparison to rats and mice, hamsters display accelerated development of a number of characteristics, most notably incisor eruption and vaginal opening. Infanticide, the most troublesome problem in studies in which hamster litters must be disturbed, did not occur after day 3. As most reflexes and sensory abilities develop after this age, hamster pups can be used successfully in behavioural teratology evaluation.

Aggression↗
PubMed2004

Diminished maternal responsiveness during pregnancy in multiparous female common marmosets.

Common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) live in small groups in which, usually, only a single female breeds and all group members provide infant care. When two females breed concurrently, however, they may commonly kill one another's infants, especially during the peripartum period. To investigate the mechanisms underlying infanticide by breeding females, we characterized responses of multiparous females to infants and determined circulating hormone levels in adult females during early pregnancy, late pregnancy, and the early postpartum period. Additionally, we compared the responses of postpartum females to their own infants and infants of other females (unfamiliar infants). Postpartum females were highly maternal toward both their own and unfamiliar infants, and showed no differences in their behavioral or hormonal responses to the two. During both early and late pregnancy, however, these females exhibited longer latencies to initially approach unfamiliar infants and spent less time carrying unfamiliar infants. Moreover, females spent less time carrying unfamiliar infants during late pregnancy than early pregnancy. Most late pregnant females never carried infants, and those that did rejected them quickly. Prolactin concentrations were higher and progesterone concentrations lower postpartum than in early or late pregnancy, while estradiol concentrations, the estradiol-to-progesterone ratio, and cortisol levels were higher during late pregnancy. Within reproductive conditions, however, maternal behaviors were not correlated with hormone levels. These results suggest that maternal responsiveness in marmosets may be attenuated during pregnancy, especially late pregnancy, and this may contribute to infanticide by breeding females.

Aggression↗