接生或助产现象被认为仅存于人类社会中，但是通过长期的野外观察，研究所肖文博士带领的滇金丝猴研究团队首次观察到了滇金丝猴的接生现象。滇金丝猴通常在晚上生产，整个过程仅持续10-15分钟。因此，科学家至今没有在野外亲眼观察到过滇金丝猴的生产过程。2012年，肖文博士的团队幸运地首次观察到了滇金丝猴在白天生产。一只年轻的雌性在首次分娩的过程中得到了一只有多次生产经验的老年雌性的帮助。当婴猴的头部完全露出产道后，老年雌性将婴猴拉了出来，并帮助撕裂了其胎膜。几分钟后，年轻雌性从老年雌性手中接过了新生婴儿，整个过程仅持续了几分钟。这是科学家首次在非人灵长类动物中观察到接生现象，所发表在期刊Behavioural Processes的文章“Daytime birth and parturition assistant behavior in wild black-and white snubnosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) Yunnan, China”
在http://www.newscientist.com 《新科学家New Scientist》（国际大众化高水平学术期刊，与《科学美国人SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN》齐名）上受到国外同行专家的高度关注和评价。主要评价如下：
Humans aren't built for giving birth. Babies' heads are big to accommodate their big brains, but the mother's hips are small because they walk upright. As a result, birth takes hours and is extremely painful – and midwives almost always help out.
Other animals may find birth difficult, particularly if the babies have been gestating for a long time and have grown large. Nevertheless, most mammals have it easier than humans. Monkeys give birth in less than ten minutes.
So it is a surprise that female black snub-nosed monkeys may be assisted by "midwives" when they give birth. This behaviour has only been seen once in this species, but it suggests that it's not just human mothers that need help giving birth.
Black snub-nosed monkeys live in societies called bands, which can be over 400 strong. Each is divided into smaller groups of around 10 monkeys. Most groups contain one male and several females plus offspring, but there are also all-male groups.
Wen Xiao of Dali University in Yunnan,
详见：
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23149-zoologger-its-a-boy-monkey-midwife-delivers-baby.html
New Scientist简介
《新科学家》New Scientist创刊于1956年，周刊。 它是一个自由的国际化科学杂志，内容关于最近的科技发展，网站开始于1996年，登载每天的关于科技界的新闻。杂志并非是一个经过同行评议的科学杂志，但被科学家和非科学家广为传阅，杂志还经常刊登一些评论，比如气候变化等环境问题。通常被认为是与科学美国人（SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN）齐名的大众化高水平学术期刊。
