Having friends by your side in times of need, during childbirth, one of the most intense moments in a mother's life. In the world of bonobos this is how it happens. In fact, the females act as obstetricians for each other
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Having friends by your side in times of need, during childbirth, one of the most intense moments in a mother's life. In the world of bonobos this is how it happens. In fact, the females act as obstetricians for each other.
To find out was a new study conducted by scientists from the University of Pisa and those from the Université Claude Bernard Lyon. According to the researchers, bonobos are our closest living animal relatives and are more like us than we imagine.
In fact, female bonobos also practice obstetrics. For the first time, it has been noted that animals other than humans are physically assisted by their own kind during childbirth. This support is mutual. The behavior has been noted on at least three separate occasions among bonobos in different parks in France and the Netherlands.
Assisted births involve a series of behaviors elaborated which usually begin when females within a group recognize when one of them begins to enter the labor. They then gather around her and offer her protection from males who might interrupt the moment.
In their own way, they give the right value to the moment of the birth of a new life, trying to create a peaceful environment around the future mother, also chasing away flies and other parasites. But not only. They help the female to keep the genitals clean and also monitor the progress of labor by frequently sniffing the liquids that come out in the various stages. They usually try to stay close to the puppy when it is born.
Researchers have notato also that some of the "midwives" had given birth in the past, so they had very clear ideas on how to help and what should be done.
Female bonds are always strong between bonobos. Unlike chimps, who try to be alone when they give birth, bonobos stay with other females, perhaps because they somehow expect to get help.
The researchers suggest that obstetrics may have evolved into a human-chimpanzee-bonobo ancestor, but over time the chimpanzees lost the trait as they became less social. The bonobos, on the other hand, have maintained this behavior.
“As in humans, bonobos birth is a social event, in which female assistants provided protection and support to the parturient until the baby was born. Furthermore, females help the pregnant woman during the expulsive phase by performing manual gestures aimed at giving birth to the baby. Our findings on bonobos challenge the traditional view that the 'compulsory' need for assistance was the main driving force leading to sociability around birth in our species. In fact, birth in bonobos is not hindered by physical constraints and the mother is self-sufficient " explain the scientists.
While more studies will be needed, they believe, the observed similarities between bonobos and humans could be related to the high level of female sociability of these species.
"From our point of view, the ability of unrelated females to form strong social bonds and cooperate may have been the evolutionary prerequisite for the emergence of human midwives."
Mother Nature will never cease to amaze us!
READ also:
- Bonobo: Pygmy chimps are kind and help out strangers
- Is your bed cleaner or a chimpanzee's?
Francesca Mancuso
