an individual that cares for a primate infant, but did not give birth to the infant. Fathers, brothers and sisters, and other females are examples of allomothers.

A young chimp watches how his mom cracks nuts. She grabs a rock. He grabs rock. She takes a nut. He takes a nut. She carefully cracks open the nut to get the treat inside. He tries stepping on it.

It will be a while before this young chimp learns how to crack nuts on his own. He has lots of time to practice, though. Big brains take a lot of time and energy to develop. Youth is also the time for primates to learn useful skills for surviving as adults. 

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