Allonursing in water buffalo: Cooperative maternal behavior in domestic <em>Bovidae</em>
In several species of mammals, allonursing is a common practice in which maternal care of nonfilial offspring is provided. Allonursing benefits both mothers and young people. Although this phenomenon is not frequently observed in ungulates, different authors have reported this behavior in water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis). However, it is still unclear why animals engage in alloparenting and, particularly, allosuckling when milk production has a high energetic cost. To explain this, several hypotheses have been proposed to understand the benefits that can be represented for the dam (e.g., improve maternal skill or milk evacuation) and the reasons that may motivate young people to be fed from nonfilial mothers (e.g., compensate for deficient milk intake). This review aims to discuss allomaternal care in Bubalus bubalis to understand how allonursing helps both females and offspring. Studies concerning allonursing are still limited in water buffalo, but current research suggests that some of the hypotheses to explain this strategy are parenting and compensation, among others.
Authors
- Alfonso Juventino Chay‐Canul (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4412-4972)
- Míriam Marcet‐Rius (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3596-7986)
- Adriana Domínguez-Oliva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1584-0654)
- Adolfo Álvarez-Macías (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8650-0641)
- Cécile Bienboire‐Frosini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7230-4471)
- Fabio Napolitano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7169-5300)
- Ricardo García‐Herrera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3845-7458)
- Adriana Olmos-Hernández (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7140-3486)
- Agustı́n Orihuela (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1226-7717)
- Patricia Mora‐Medina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8153-8210)
- Daniel Mota‐Rojas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0562-0367)
Institutions
- Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (MX)
- University of Basilicata (IT)
- Universidad de Cuautitlán Izcalli (MX)
- Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación (MX)
- Institut de Recherche en Sémiochimie et Ethologie Appliquée (FR)
- Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (MX)
- Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco (MX)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Animal Behaviour and Biometeorology
- Published
- 2024-11-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.31893/jabb.2024023
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.55