%0 Journal Article %A LIU Ruoshuang %A YAO Hui %A YANG Wanji %A XIANG Zuofu %T Mother-infant interaction in a provisioned group of golden snub-nosed monkeys Rhinopithecus roxellana in Shennongjia, China %D 2016 %R 10.16829/j.slxb.201602004 %J ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA %P 158-168 %V 36 %N 2 %X The maternal behavior of primates is critical for offspring survival and female reproductive success, and also impacts infant development and adult relationships with other individuals. Thus, observations of mother-infant interactions are a subject of current interest. To document the maternal behavior of Rhinopithecus roxellana, and factors that affect mother – infant interaction, from March 2013 to October 2014 the relative distance between the mother and the infant, the mother’s restrainingof the infant, and rejection of allomaternal behavior were recorded for 15 mother-infant dyads in a provisioned group at Dalongtan, in Shennongjia National Nature Reserve. We found that the time infants spent in ventral contact with the mother was significantly negatively correlated with infant age, whereas there was no significant relationship between general body contact and infant age. Relative distance between mother and infant was negatively correlated with infant age at distances <1 m, and positively correlated at distances of 1-5 m, 5-10 m, and >10 m. The mother’s restraining behavior did not correlate with infant age, while the mother’s rejection of allomaternal behavior was negatively correlated with infant age. The results also suggest that the distance between mother and infant increased with the growth and development of the infant, and that the mother was less protective of the infant as it became more active and mobile. Maternal parity, the sex of the infant, the infant’s birth date, and social unit size had a minimal influence on mother-infant relationships. Lower food competition and intra-group aggression between the females in the provision population might explain this result of mother-infant relationship. %U http://www.mammal.cn/EN/10.16829/j.slxb.201602004