野生雌性黄山短尾猴产后摄食胎盘新发现

New evidence of placenta ingestion by wild female Tibetan macaques(Macaca thibetana)

摄食胎盘行为是哺乳动物分娩过程的组成部分之一,具有重要的生态学和生物学意义。野生哺乳动物的分娩大多发生在夜间,受光线和视线等观察条件的限制,很难直接观察到野生动物的分娩行为。2015年4月9日8点59分,我们在安徽黄山观察野生短尾猴鱼鳞坑A1群时,发现初次生产的雌性个体"头华玉(THY)"分娩后摄食胎盘的行为,随即采用目标动物取样法记录了该个体摄食胎盘的行为过程。THY摄食胎盘包括舔舐、撕成片状、刮食和吞咽等过程,历时2小时29分钟,其中摄食胎盘有效时间长于63 min,进程缓慢。与其他相关研究比较,初次生产的雌性短尾猴头华玉(THY)摄食胎盘具有花费时间长、社会交往多、警惕性高的特点。本研究是本课题组在安徽黄山研究短尾猴30年首次直接观察到产后摄食胎盘行为,为了解短尾猴的繁殖行为和非人灵长类的繁殖特性提供了难得基础资料。

Placenta ingestion is a crucial event in mammalian parturition which provides insight into understanding for both ecological and biological functions of reproduction. However,parturition in wild mammals mostly occurs at night,placing restrictions on observation and is seldom observed by researchers. Thus,little has been known for parturition in wild animals,especially for wild nonhuman primates. We occasionally observed a primiparous adult female Tibetan macaques（ Macaca thibetana） named THY ingesting placenta during the postpartum phase at 8： 59 AM of April 9,2015. Immediately,we used a focal sampling method and continuously recorded THY＇s behavior during placenta ingestion. The whole process included licking,tearing to pieces,scraping,and swallowing,and lasted for two hours and 29 minutes. The effective duration of THY＇s placenta ingestion is more than 63 minutes. Therefore,placenta ingestion in primiparous Tibetan macaques took longer than it does in other nonhuman primates. Moreover,during placenta ingestion,the female participated in more social interactions with others compared with other species. We also found that the female showed vigilant behavior during the process of placenta ingestion. Our study provides the first evidence on parturition in Tibetan macaques and offers a new insight into understanding the parturition traits of the species.