Allomaternal care is when an individual other than an infant’s mother helps care for it, is common in wedge-capped capuchins.
 There are several behaviors associated with allomaternal care in these monkeys, including nursing and carrying the infant.
 For the first three months after birth, infants are cared for exclusively by their mothers.
 However, allomaternal care dramatically increases during the next three months of development to the point where infants generally receive less care from their mothers than from other females.
 Siblings provide far more care for infants than non-related individuals.
 Additionally, high-ranking females interact more often with the infants of low-ranking females than vice versa.
 Allomaternal care is provided most often by juveniles and young adults.
 Adult females participate far less in alloparental care.
 This is common among many primate groups and indicates that young females may gain valuable experience in raising infants that will help them in the future.

It is important to note that allomaternal nursing (wet nursing) is common in wedge-capped capuchins but very rare among other primates.
 Even more interesting is that this nursing behavior in wedge-capped capuchins is not correlated with relatedness.
 This behavior may be an example of reciprocity, where the favor of one female nursing another’s infant is eventually returned.

Parasitic nursing has also been observed in wedge-capped capuchins.
 In these instances, juvenile and young adult females, who are usually higher in the dominance hierarchy, nurse from older females of lower rank.
 In contrast to allomaternal behavior, parasitic nursing does not appear to give any benefits to the monkey providing the milk.
Allomaternal care is when an individual other than an infant’s mother helps care for it, is common in wedge-capped capuchins.  There are several behaviors associated with allomaternal care in these monkeys, including nursing and carrying the infant.  For the first three months after birth, infants are cared for exclusively by their mothers.  However, allomaternal care dramatically increases during the next three months of development to the point where infants generally receive less care from their mothers than from other females.  Siblings provide far more care for infants than non-related individuals.  Additionally, high-ranking females interact more often with the infants of low-ranking females than vice versa.  Allomaternal care is provided most often by juveniles and young adults.  Adult females participate far less in alloparental care.  This is common among many primate groups and indicates that young females may gain valuable experience in raising infants that will help them in the future.
It is important to note that allomaternal nursing (wet nursing) is common in wedge-capped capuchins but very rare among other primates.  Even more interesting is that this nursing behavior in wedge-capped capuchins is not correlated with relatedness.  This behavior may be an example of reciprocity, where the favor of one female nursing another’s infant is eventually returned.
Parasitic nursing has also been observed in wedge-capped capuchins.  In these instances, juvenile and young adult females, who are usually higher in the dominance hierarchy, nurse from older females of lower rank.  In contrast to allomaternal behavior, parasitic nursing does not appear to give any benefits to the monkey providing the milk.
Wedge-capped capuchin