Primate mothers may carry infants after death as a way of grieving

Some primate species may express grief over the death of their infant by carrying the corpse with them, sometimes for months, according to a new UCL-led study - with implications for our understanding of how non-human animals experience emotion. Published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , the researchers compiled data from anecdotes reported in 126 publications on primate behaviour. In the largest study of its kind, researchers undertook the most extensive and rigorous quantitative analysis to date of a behaviour known as "infant corpse carrying" in primate mothers, looking at 409 cases across 50 species. While there is debate among scientists around whether primates are aware of death, this new study suggests that primate mothers may possess an awareness - or be able to learn about death over time. Study co-author Dr Alecia Carter (UCL Anthropology) said: "Our study indicates that primates may be able to learn about death in similar ways to humans: it might take experience to understand that death results in a long-lasting 'cessation of function', which is one of the concepts of death that humans have. What we don't know, and maybe will never know, is whether primates can understand that death is universal, that all animals - including themselves - will die. "Our study also has implications for what we know about how grief is processed among non-human primates.