Parasitic nursing behavior in the wedge‐capped capuchin monkey (<i>Cebus olivaceus</i>)

Abstract

Juvenile and adult females in two wild groups of wedge-capped capuchin monkeys (Cebus olivaceus) were observed nursing from other adult females. The context of the interactions varied with participants but always involved a higher-ranking female nursing from a lower-ranking female. This behavior appears to be an example of an exploitative interaction in which the suckling female benefits at the expense of the nursing female.