O desenvolvimento da catação em Callithrix jacchus (sagui-de-tufo-branco)

Abstract

This study investigated the factors that influence grooming behavior in white tufted marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) infants, focusing on the influences of sex, family group and grooming partners. Grooming behavior was analyzed in 10 infants (5 males and 5 females) distributed in three family groups (colonies A, B and E). Data was collected through direct observation, using the focal sampling method, recording passive and active grooming events up to 155 days of postnatal age. The results indicated that active grooming emerges around the ninth week of life, but is not frequent at this stage of development. There were no significant differences in the frequency of passive or active grooming in relation to the sex or family group of the infants. It was observed that approximately 65% of the total passive grooming time of the infants was carried out by breeders, while non-breeders participated in 21% of the time, with no significant variation between family groups. However, the analysis revealed that the predominant grooming parent varied between the colonies: in colonies A and B, the mothers were mainly responsible for grooming the infants, while in colony E the father played this role. This pattern may be related to contextual differences between the groups, although the small sample size of colony E (2 animals) limits the ability to generalize the finding. Furthermore, these results suggest that although parental care is consistent between the family groups in terms of proportion, there may be specific differences in the roles played by each parent. These results contribute to a better understanding of the social dynamics of white tufted marmosets and provide a comparative framework for studies on the evolution of social behaviors in primates.