In Animals
Some species of animals show behavior where individuals care for the offspring of deceased relatives or group members. One species in which this occurs is the chacma baboon, where infants whose mothers have died are cared for by young adults (both males and females) in their social groups. These adoptive parents sleep with the infant baboons, carry them, groom them, and protect them from harassment from other baboons. This behavior may be an example of kin selection or may simply be practice for the young adults for when they have their own offspring.
Read more about this topic: Adoption Agency
Famous quotes containing the word animals:
“The saying, “The Magyar is much too lazy to be bored,” is worth thinking about. Only the most subtle and active animals are capable of boredom.—A theme for a great poet would be God’s boredom on the seventh day of creation.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“The moles nested in my cellar, nibbling every third potato, and making a snug bed even there of some hair left after plastering and of brown paper; for even the wildest animals love comfort and warmth as well as man, and they survive the winter only because they are so careful to secure them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)