National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Marmoset Gene Swaps Spur Babysitting Bizarreness, Study Shows


Email to a Friend	<< Back to Full Story

Marmoset males often babysit unrelated infants—one of nature's most puzzling child care systems.

Now a new study suggests an explanation: a bizarre interchange of DNA in marmoset wombs that muddles marmoset identity and relatedness.

Photograph courtesy Jeffrey E. Fite