23/08/2022
Such behavior may pay off down the line, says Klaree Boose, a primatologist at the University of Oregon in Eugene who wasn’t part of the work. “It’s like sidestepping the whole gestation process” to gain another partner, she says. In bonobo society, in which females typically hold the highest ranks, youngsters could remain allies even after joining another group, helping their adoptive mothers when the groups cross paths. But the researchers will have to wait to see where the adoptees’ allegiances lie.
