DOI: 10.5061/dryad.qnk98sfqn
title: Data from: Costs and benefits of allomaternal care to mothers and others in wild Phayre’s leaf monkeys

description: Allomaternal care (AMC) is suggested to be energetically beneficial to
 mothers and costly to allomothers. However, among primates, AMC is a
 heterogeneous phenomenon and its implications are less clear especially in
 female dispersal species. Here, we investigated infant care in a female
 dispersal species, Phayre’s leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus phayrei
 crepusculus), to evaluate whether mothers were constrained by infant care
 and benefitted energetically from AMC, whether AMC was energetically
 costly for allomothers and how maternal experience was associated with
 AMC. Data were collected via instantaneous focal animal sampling between
 2004-2005 for juvenile and adult females (N=18) from two groups at the Phu
 Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand (440 hours). We used generalized linear
 mixed models to determine how infant care during the first month after
 birth affected the time mothers and allomothers spent feeding,
 socializing, resting, and locomoting and how AMC varied. In the first
 month, infants spent 26% of their time with an allomother. We found no
 differences in mothers' overall activity before versus after birth,
 although mothers fed significantly more and rested less when without their
 infant. Allomothers fed and rested less when with an infant. AMC varied
 between 0.0 and 20.5%, with immature females being most active. Mothers
 appear to benefit energetically from AMC such that their overall activity
 after birth remained unchanged. Costs and benefits for allomothers seem to
 be variable. Some very active immature females may be benefitting from
 learning-to-mother. The overall low cost of AMC may facilitate a
 reciprocal social network among unrelated females.
description: # Data from: Costs and benefits of allomaternal care to mothers and others
 in wild Phayre’s leaf monkeys
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qnk98sfqn](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qnk98sfqn) The information compiled here is part of a manuscript in American Journal of Biological Anthropology, (Vee, Borries, Larney, Koenig "Costs and benefits of allomaternal care to mothers and others in wild Phayre’s leaf monkeys"; accepted 9/18/2024, doi: 10.1002/ajpa.25035) ## Description of the data and file structure The data were observational in nature using 20-minute focal observations of individual females. During these focal observations we used focal instantaneous recording at 1-minute intervals, i.e., 20 sample points per focal observation. We followed two groups observing 7 females in one group and 11 females in the other. During observations, behaviors relating to feeding, resting, social, and locomotion were noted. In addition, it was noted if a female was caring for a less than 30-day-old infant – either her own or from another female. Data analysis was restricted to 30 days before a female gave birth and to the 30 days after birth. The observations included 9 births of which 6 were known to the day and estimated for 3 other infants (error range: 5-8 days). **Vee_etal_PLM_mothers_30days_before_after_birth_anonymized.csv** This file lists all 127 focal observations used in the analysis with each row representing one focal observation. They refer to 7 females (mothers, 7 births) from 2 groups, observed during the 30 days before and the 30 days after birth. For two additional females, observations during these periods (before-after) were incomplete and could not be used. The behavioral activities (feeding, social, resting, locomotion) can co-occur and are not part of an activity budget, i.e., do not sum up to 100%. From left to right, the columns contain: 'observation_ID': holds the unique identification of the focal sample coded as a consecutive number from 1 to 127 'female_ID': holds the name of a female coded as Cxx, running from C01 to C07 'group_ID': holds the name of the study group coded as PA or PB 'timing_birth', when the observation was taken relative to the birth of an infant coded as: * before = during the 30 days before birth * 30days = during the 30 days after birth 'N_intervals': holds the total number of intervals for a single focal observation * the typical number is 20 * intervals during which a female was engaged in allomaternal care were excluded 'N_feeding': holds the number of intervals during which the focal female was observed feeding * feeding includes handling, ingesting, and/or chewing 'N_social': holds the number of intervals during which the focal female was observed in social behavior * social behavior (e.g., grooming, body contact); excludes social interactions with own older offspring 'N_resting': holds the number of intervals during which the focal female was observed resting * resting defined as inactive with eyes closed 'N_locomotion': holds the number of intervals during which the focal female was observed locomoting 'percent_feeding': holds the relative number of intervals during which the focal female was observed feeding * calculated from N_feeding / N_intervals * 100 'percent_social': holds the relative number of intervals during which the focal female was observed in social behavior * calculated from N_social / N_intervals * 100 'percent_resting': holds the relative number of intervals during which the focal female was observed resting * calculated from N_resting / N_intervals * 100 'percent_locomotion': holds the relative number of intervals during which the focal female was observed locomoting * calculated from N_locomotion / N_intervals * 100 **Vee_etal_PLM_mothers_30days_with_without_infant_anonymized.csv** This file lists all 120 focal observations in which mothers either had their own 30-day old infant with them or not. They refer to 9 females (9 mothers) from 2 groups during the 30 days after birth. A row may refer to a single focal observation (20 intervals), during which a mother had or did not have her infant with her the entire time. A row may also refer to parts of focal observation only (less than 20 intervals), during which a mother had or did not have her infant with her. In this case, the corresponding parts of a focal observation are listed consecutively. The behavioral activities (feeding, social, resting, locomotion) can co-occur and are not part of an activity budget, i.e., do not sum up to 100%. From left to right, the columns contain: 'observation_ID': holds the unique identification of the focal sample or part of a focal sample coded as a unique number 'female_ID': holds the name of a female coded as Mxx, running from M01 to M09 'group_ID': the name of the study group coded as PA or PB 'infant_category', if the mother had her own infant with her or not coded as: * 30own = the infant was with its mother * 30no = the infant was not with its mother 'N_infant_category': holds the total number of intervals for 'infant_category' * the maximum number is 20 * intervals were excluded if a mother herself was engaged in allomaternal care 'N_feeding': holds the number of intervals during which the focal female was observed feeding * feeding includes handling, ingesting, and/or chewing 'N_social': holds the number of intervals during which the focal female was observed in social behavior * social behavior (e.g., grooming, body contact); excludes social interactions with own older offspring 'N_resting': holds the number of intervals during which the focal female was observed resting * resting defined as inactive with eyes closed 'N_locomotion': holds the number of intervals during which the focal female was observed locomoting 'percent_feeding': holds the relative number of intervals during which the focal female was observed feeding * calculated from N_feeding / N_infant_category * 100 'percent_social': holds the relative number of intervals during which the focal female was observed in social behavior * calculated from N social / N_infant_category * 100 'percent_resting': holds the relative number of intervals during which the focal female was observed resting * calculated from N resting / N_infant_category * 100 'percent_locomotion': holds the relative number of intervals during which the focal female was observed locomoting * calculated from N locomotion / N_infant_category * 100 **Vee_etal_PLM_allomothers_30days_with_without_infant_anonymized.csv** This file lists all 294 entries of focal observations in which females either had a 30-day old infant (not their own) with them or not. They refer to 17 females from 2 groups during times when a less than 30-day-old infant was present. A row may refer to a single focal observation (20 intervals), during which a female had or did not have an infant (not her own) with her the entire time. A row may also refer to part of a focal observation (less than 20 intervals), during which a female had or did not have an infant with her. In this case the corresponding parts of a focal observation are listed consecutively but exclude all intervals in which a mother was caring for her own infant (thus excluding maternal care). The behavioral activities (feeding, social, resting, locomotion) can co-occur and are not part of an activity budget, i.e., do not sum up to 100%. From left to right, the columns contain: 'observation_ID': holds the unique identification of the focal sample or part of a focal sample coded as a unique number 'female_ID': holds the name of a female coded as Hxx, running from H01 to H17 'group_ID': the name of the study group coded as PA or PB 'infant_category', if the female had an infant not her own or if she was without her own infant coded as: * 30allo = female was with a 30-day-old infant that was not her own * 30no = female was without her own infant 'N_infant_category': holds the total number of intervals for 'infant_category' * the maximum number is 20 * intervals were excluded if a female was engaged in maternal care 'N_feeding': holds the number of intervals during which the focal female was observed feeding * feeding includes handling, ingesting, and/or chewing 'N_social': holds the number of intervals during which the focal female was observed in social behavior * social behavior (e.g., grooming, body contact); excludes social interactions with own older offspring 'N_resting': holds the number of intervals during which the focal female was observed resting * resting defined as inactive with eyes closed 'N_locomotion': holds the number of intervals during which the focal female was observed locomoting 'percent_feeding': holds the relative number of intervals during which the focal female was observed feeding * calculated from N_feeding / N_infant_category * 100 'percent_social': holds the relative number of intervals during which the focal female was observed in social behavior * calculated from N social / N_infant_category * 100 'percent_resting': holds the relative number of intervals during which the focal female was observed resting * calculated from N resting / N_infant_category * 100 'percent_locomotion': holds the relative number of intervals during which the focal female was observed locomoting * calculated from N locomotion / N_infant_category * 100 **Vee_etal_PLM_allomothers_30days_parity_anonymized.csv** This file lists all 465 focal observations in which females either had a 30-day old infant (not their own) with them or not with each row representing one focal observation. They refer to 18 females from 2 groups during the time when at least one less than 30-day-old infant was present. Females are distinguished by age and parity. From left to right, the columns contain: 'observation_ID': holds the unique identification of the focal sample coded as a unique number 'period': a categorical variable specifying different, unique time periods per 'female_ID' 'infant_ID': holds the name of one of eight 30-day-old infants that was cared for, coded as Ixx, running from I01 to I08 'female_ID': holds the name of a female coded as Pxx, running from P01 to P18 'group_ID': the name of the study group coded as PA or PB 'age' of the female coded as: * juvenile = no longer in nipple contact but smaller than an adult female and has not yet given birth for the first time * adult = has reached the head-body length of adult females or after the birth to their first infant, whatever occurred first ‘parity’ of the female, coded as: * nulliparous = before a female has given birth for the first time primiparous = after the first birth of a nulliparous female multiparous = adult female with an infant known to have had at least one prior offspring. parous = female could be primiparous or multiparous. 'N_30allo: holds the number of intervals in which a female was observed caring for a less than 30-day-old infant not her own * maximum number is 20 'tot_N_inyervals': holds the total number of intervals for a focal observation * the maximum number is 20 * intervals were excluded if a female was out of sight 'N_30_inf': holds the total number of less than 30-day-old infants simultaneously present in a group 'mom_yn' provides the information whether a female had a 30-day old infant during the time the observation was taken coded as: * y = yes * n = no