ABSTRACT
A mother, or any other figure serving as principal caregiver for a developing, relatively helpless infant—the case in both human and nonhuman primates—plays many roles in furthering the survival of her child. Except under relatively atypical circumstances for the primates, the solitary rearing pattern of the orangutan, for example, this primary caregiving role is carried out and is shaped by the larger familial and social context in which it unfolds. The relatively cohesive, quite enduring, and largely consanguineal kinship unit and especially the mother–child relation represents a central feature for virtually all aspects of primate social and affective development. These broadly significant social complements notwithstanding, a considerable range of these diverse functions is expressed in the primates.
