Tending a dying adult in a wild multi-level primate society

Abstract

Responses of nonhuman species to dying and dead conspecifics range from hard-wired, fixed-action patterns - as in social insects - to varied, flexible behaviors with cognitive and emotional correlates - as in some larger-brained mammals [1,2]. Comparative thanatology addresses issues that include empathy, compassion, and conceptual understanding of death across species [1-3]. Several aspects of how great apes react to illness, injury and death of others recall human behavior in comparable situations [1-5]. However, the extent to which more distantly related primates share these responses is largely unknown. Here, we describe behaviors shown toward a dying adult female in wild Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) [6] and argue that empathy and compassion surrounding death extend beyond humans and their closest evolutionary relatives.