Definition of allomother
plural allomothers
: an individual other than the biological mother of an offspring that performs the functions of a mother (as by caring for an infant temporarily)
- The allomother suckled the second infant for two and one-half minutes before it was retrieved by its own mother.
- —Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, The Langurs of Abu: Female and Male Strategies of Reproduction, 1980
- … by five months of age, babies spend more time with allomothers than with their own mother …
- —Claudia R. Valeggia, in Substitute Parents: Biological and Social Perspectives on Alloparenting, 2009
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allomother
verb, transitive + intransitive allomothers; allomothered; allomothering-
- … older sisters are readily available to allomother their younger siblings …
- —Bernard Chapais, in Cooperation in Primates and Humans: Mechanisms and Evolution, 2006
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- Among elephants, allomothering practice did not appear to compensate for direct experience with an offspring.
- —Phyllis C. Lee, Animal Behaviour, February 1987
