This is so amazing and adorable..
Ten-day-old Macaque Sashko plays with his mother Nadya at a zoo in Bulgaria. Research on free-ranging monkeys on the island of Cayo Santiago near the southeastern coast of Puerto Rico, revealed females use "baby-talk" with other females' young.
Monkeys Use 'Baby Talk' With Infants
Read the article here too.
Baby Takin' Monkey Mammas
Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
Aug. 24, 2007 — A person who excitedly approaches infants and speaks to them in a high-pitched, musical voice has a behavior in common with female monkeys, suggests a new study, which found that female rhesus macaques use "baby talk" when they see another monkey's offspring.
Since "baby talk," also known as "motherese," may be an evolved trait in certain primates, the finding indicates this gentle way of vocalizing could play a key role in promoting positive relationships between parents and babies, as well as between adults and other grown-ups.
"Baby talk" used by the macaques has a soft, nasal sound. It is mostly prompted by the fact that "all monkey females are interested in babies," co-author Dario Maestripieri told Discovery News.
He and colleagues Jessica Whitham and Melissa Gerald documented the sweet-sounding macaque vocalizations — called "grunts" and "girneys" — along with associated behaviors of free-ranging monkeys on the island of Cayo Santiago near the southeastern coast of Puerto Rico.
The study is published in the current issue of the journal Ethology.
While the researchers determined both male and female monkeys have the ability to produce the sounds, they noticed males rarely used them.
Females, on the other hand, nearly always only emitted the sounds when they encountered another female's baby, such as when an infant would wander away from its mother.
Whitham said that "while intently watching infants, females excitedly wag their tails and emit long strings of grunts and girneys."
When the actual mother of the infant approached, one or more other females would sometimes approach the mom and initiate a mutual grooming session.
Although the researchers do not think the sounds communicate specific information, Maestripieri said they believe the calls "are signals used in friendly interactions, to signal that the vocalizer means no harm."
The scientists also believe the sounds help to attract an infant's attention.
"In fact, it could be that humans and monkeys emit sounds that infants find attractive," said Maestripieri. "Babies like to hear what we consider to be baby talk."
He added that humans, and particularly women, the world over use this melodic way of speaking to infants, no matter what the native language of the speaker is.
The main difference between human and monkey motherese, however, is that humans will often use baby talk with their own kids, but rhesus moms do not. That is probably because the monkeys carry their infants on their chest, so "the calls aren't necessary with such constant face-to-face contact," Maestripieri said.
The study adds to research conducted by University of California at Los Angeles anthropologist Joan Silk.
Silk and her team also noticed that grunts and girneys are "effective in facilitating grooming and in reducing aggression."
Baby talk may even help to ease spats between adult female baboons.
After analyzing such conflicts, Silk's group pointed out that one of the baboon combatants might sweetly grunt while approaching a former opponent and her infant. After a few gentle caresses of the baby, all seemed to be forgotten and forgiven.
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