Question
Are Monkey's less likely to throw monkey babies, more than human babies, even whey don't understand about life of people, and there appearance, trying to survive, gifted by God
Answers
GPT-5 mini
I think you’re asking whether monkeys are less likely than humans to “throw away” or harm their babies, even though monkeys don’t understand human life or appearance and are acting from instinct. Short answer: there isn’t a simple yes/no — primate parenting is complex and depends on species, sex, social situation and stressors.
Key points
- Strong maternal care is common in many monkey and ape species. Most mothers invest heavily in their infants (nursing, carrying, grooming, protecting) because infant survival is crucial for their genes to be passed on.
- Infanticide and infant rejection do occur in nonhuman primates. Examples:
- Male infanticide is well-documented in some species (e.g., langurs, chimpanzees). New males may kill infants so females return to fertility sooner.
- Some mothers may reject or neglect infants if they are stressed, inexperienced, malnourished, or if the infant is abnormal or sick.
- Group members sometimes mishandle or kill infants (competition, social tension, or mistaken identity).
- Context matters a lot. In the wild, ecological pressures (food shortage, high predation, social instability) and mating strategies influence outcomes. In captivity, abnormal behaviors or high stress can increase risk of abandonment or aggression.
- Humans are different in important ways: we have culture, moral systems, laws, and the ability to plan and intervene. Those features reduce some risks to infants (e.g., protection by social institutions) but human societies have also practiced infanticide, abandonment, or neglect at times in history and in some places today. So humans are not uniformly more or less “compassionate”; it varies across time and culture.
- About “appearance” and recognizing babies: most primates recognize and respond to the cues of their own infants (smell, sound, behavior). They generally won’t treat a human baby the same as a conspecific infant, and accidental harm can occur if animals are curious or stressed.
If you want, I can:
- Give specific examples/case studies (e.g., langurs, chimpanzees, macaques).
- Recommend accessible books or papers (e.g., Sarah Blaffer Hrdy’s work on primate motherhood and infanticide).
- Clarify any part of your question (do you mean “throw” literally, abandon, or harm?).
Key points
- Strong maternal care is common in many monkey and ape species. Most mothers invest heavily in their infants (nursing, carrying, grooming, protecting) because infant survival is crucial for their genes to be passed on.
- Infanticide and infant rejection do occur in nonhuman primates. Examples:
- Male infanticide is well-documented in some species (e.g., langurs, chimpanzees). New males may kill infants so females return to fertility sooner.
- Some mothers may reject or neglect infants if they are stressed, inexperienced, malnourished, or if the infant is abnormal or sick.
- Group members sometimes mishandle or kill infants (competition, social tension, or mistaken identity).
- Context matters a lot. In the wild, ecological pressures (food shortage, high predation, social instability) and mating strategies influence outcomes. In captivity, abnormal behaviors or high stress can increase risk of abandonment or aggression.
- Humans are different in important ways: we have culture, moral systems, laws, and the ability to plan and intervene. Those features reduce some risks to infants (e.g., protection by social institutions) but human societies have also practiced infanticide, abandonment, or neglect at times in history and in some places today. So humans are not uniformly more or less “compassionate”; it varies across time and culture.
- About “appearance” and recognizing babies: most primates recognize and respond to the cues of their own infants (smell, sound, behavior). They generally won’t treat a human baby the same as a conspecific infant, and accidental harm can occur if animals are curious or stressed.
If you want, I can:
- Give specific examples/case studies (e.g., langurs, chimpanzees, macaques).
- Recommend accessible books or papers (e.g., Sarah Blaffer Hrdy’s work on primate motherhood and infanticide).
- Clarify any part of your question (do you mean “throw” literally, abandon, or harm?).