Birth – Single young are born approximately every 1-2 years [3,19,29,31] from 3 – 20 years of age [18,29], higher-ranked females reproduce more often, from an earlier age, and have higher infant survival rates [34].
Generally speaking, a female monkey will typically be able to have young every two to three years. There is no mating season for monkeys; they can become pregnant any time of year.
Male monkeys can mate 10 times a day and females can give birth twice a year.
Most monkeys reach sexual maturity between the ages of four and eight. However, the age at which a monkey can reproduce depends on the species. Some monkeys mate as early as two years old, while others do not reach sexual maturity until they are ten. The gestation period for most monkeys is about six months.
They give birth about every three-four years, after a gestation period (time between fertilisation of the egg and birth of the baby) of 8 months.
Gibbons, as well as orangutans and gorillas, are anthropoid apes, the primates that most closely resemble humans, physically and behaviorally. Male and female gibbons are regarded as monogamous. They pair up for life and form a family that stays together until the offspring grow up and leave home.
Having more mating partners decreases the chance that offspring is attacked or killed, since males do not attack offspring of their mating partners [3]. Also, by mating with different partners, females increase the amount of goods they get from males and increase the number of males that guard the group [4,5].
How long a primate should stay with its mother. In order to learn vital “life skills” a primate should stay with its mother through the birth and rearing of a sibling, generally until sexual maturity. For example sexual maturity does not occur in capuchin monkeys until they're about over four years of age.
Also common among primates are multi-male multi-female groups, in which multiple individuals of each sex form large social groups in which the mating system is usually polygynandrous (i.e., both males and females are polygamous in that they mate with multiple members of the opposite sex).
Macaques
Female macaques are more likely to experience orgasm when mating with a high-ranking male. Researchers believe that macaques have sex for pleasure because their sexual behavior is similar to humans. For example, macaques experience elevated heart rates and vaginal spasms when mating.
It seems intuitive that primates experience sexual pleasure in a similar way to humans [50,51]. Indeed, female orgasms occur in lemurs, marmosets, macaques, and apes [18,28].
These relationships, known as consortships, are thought to be a way to practise and develop adult sexual behaviours. Gunst even claims the female monkeys experience sexual reward through genital stimulation by mounting other monkeys.
No other species, not even among our closest relatives chimpanzees and bonobos, are known to help mothers-to-be give birth. That is until now. A new study found, for the first time, evidence that bonobos also share this human trait of accompanying mums-to-be during labour.
Some species of great apes, such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans, have been observed using various methods to handle menstrual bleeding, including using leaves or other materials to absorb the blood and grooming themselves more frequently.
And they found that, just like people and chimps, macaques can be very tender. The researchers observed macaque moms gently bouncing their young, holding their heads and trying to attract their gaze. And when the monkey moms made lip smacks, their babies often responded in kind.
"Unlike most parents in the United States today, wild monkey mothers have the luxury of being able to feed on demand, carry their babies all the time, sleep with their babies and be responsive rather than doting," says Smith.
Scientists found that over a five-year period, more than 87 percent of golden snub-nosed monkey infants were nursed by females other than their mothers—a phenomenon called allonursing.
Although there is no conclusive evidence, it has been a persistent folktale that a male orangutans, a species of great apes native to Indonesia seem to display sexual attraction to human females. This myth, which originally began in Sumatra and Borneo has now entered popular culture.
However, one animal kisses just like we do: the bonobo ape. This isn't too surprising, considering we share 98.7 per cent of our DNA with this hairy cousin. Bonobos kiss for comfort and to socialise. Sometimes after a fight they even kiss and make up.
If a human were indeed inclined and able to impregnate a monkey, post-zygotic mechanisms might result in a miscarriage or sterile offspring. The further apart two animals are in genetic terms, the less likely they are to produce viable offspring.
Among the primate order, homosexual behavior is most frequently observed in bonobos. However, it also occurs in other species, such as Japanese macaques and capuchin monkeys.
The way one type of monkey mums bond with their babies seems amazingly similar to the way we bond and behave with our babies, scientists have discovered, reports the BBC. The rhesus macaque monkey mummies make exaggerated facial expressions, gaze intently at their little ones and make kiss-like gestures.
They love each other as we do. They feel complex emotions such as loyalty and jealousy. Apes share all the characteristics and emotions that we think of as human.