Abstract
In callitrichids (marmosets and tamarins), not only the mother but also the father and older offspring (helpers) living in the group take part in infant carrying. As a measure of the costs of infant carrying in callitrichids, we measured the distance individual common marmosets were able to leap without carrying infants and when carrying infants of different weight. We found a significant negative correlation between carrying weight and the distance marmosets could leap. A weight of 65g (the combined weight of newborn twins) reduced the leaping ability by an average of 17%. We conclude that infant carrying in callitrichids entails significant behavioural costs that can be expected to have great impact on their life in the field, especially on foraging and predator avoidance, that is, behaviours that incorporate leaping ability.
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