Mammal species with a slow life history invest heavily in caring for their young to meet their nutritional and developmental needs, often at significant cost to the mothers.
Although maternal care has been extensively studied, understanding the mechanisms underlying variations in mother–offspring relationships during key periods of juvenile development requires more comparative data from natural populations.
Using eight years of behavioral data, we analyzed mother–infant interactions among 68 infants born to 46 mothers in a wild population of mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx), covering several birth cohorts and the entire first year of life—a critical period for the social and physical development of individuals.