First of all, to get rid of fleas. In this way, they rid themselves of all the different kinds of parasites which are a nuisance and can sometimes give them sores or make them ill. Also, during this process, salt crystals are cleared away from their skin. If you watch a monkey picking at another's coat, you will notice that it sniffs before it eats. When a monkey sweats, it deposits salt, which crystallizes on its skin, just like man, and this salt is very important to them as it is to all animals. Studies of monkeys in the wild, as well as in captivity, have led us to believe that this delousing of each other's coats must have more significance. It achieves the same ends as the courtship between a man and a woman. When two eligible monkeys groom each other, the female starts by preening the male and then roles are reversed; it often leads to the two pairing off.
It one of the two partners refuses to groom, then the relationship goes no further. It also seems that this activity forms a bond between a mother and her child, because the personal scents of each monkey are different. Often this process is accompanied by soft affectionate whimpers. Other mammals and birds have similar courtship rituals.
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