Raoul Mulder
Animal Behaviour Raoul Mulder
Parental Care
Lecture outline What is parental care? How does care vary across animal taxa? What factors explain differences in care between species?
Forms of parental care Parental care = investment by parents in offspring fitness; usually at some cost to their own survival or reproduction Common forms: • provisioning of eggs with yolk • nests, burrows, shelter; heat • feeding of young after birth
Examples of parental care Water bug carrying eggs on its back
Great egret feeding her chicks
Dung beetle laying her eggs in ball of dung
Koala joey riding on mum’s back
How does parental care vary across taxa? Type of care
Taxonomic groups
No care
Most invertebrates, many fish
Female care
Most mammals, some reptiles, amphibians
Male care
Many fish, some amphibians
Both sexes care
Most birds, some reptiles, some fish
Key sources of variation: 1) physiological, life history constraints 2) costs and benefits of care
Bi-parental care: birds Reproductive output limited by rate at which nestlings can be provisioned; 2 parents do better than 1 Prediction: where food is ‘superabundant’, biparental care should be less common Example: in fruit-eating birds of paradise, males are ‘released’ from care
Wilson’s bird of Paradise
Answer: Both parents provide parental care. Most bird species provide bi-parental care (from both parents); this is because it requires the efforts of two parents to bring sufficient food to their chicks. In ecosystems where food is particularly abundant, these food constraints may be relaxed and only one parent can provide enough food (e.g. in birds-of-paradise).
Female care: mammals Prolonged gestation and lactation ‘predispose’ females to care
Wild dog
Internal fertilisation means that males have first opportunity to desert Where male care is important to food acquisition (carnivores) or transport (marmosets), males care Marmoset
Patterns of care in fish Internal
External
Male care
2
61
Female care
14
24
No care
5
100
Anemone fish eggs
Order of gamete release: internal fertilisation gives males the chance to desert first; female left ‘holding the baby’ Certainty of paternity is greater with external fertilisation because it takes place at the same time as oviposition Closer association of parent pre-adapts it for care
Summary In some species there is no parental care (invertebrates); in others female care (mammals), male care (many fish) or biparental care (birds) Variation across species can be explained by: - physiological and life history constraints - differences in costs and benefits of care, measured against benefits of additional matings
PDF Citations Slide 1 _MG_2581 peacock spider Maratus volans by Jurgen Otto (http://www.flickr.com/photos/59431731@N05/5521738809/). Reproduced with permission from Jurgen Otto. Slide 3 a) "Baya: Busy Building Nest" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/yogendra174/4958682759/) by Yogendra Joshi (CC BY 2.0) b) "Raw egg" (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raw_egg.jpg) by jefras a.k.a Joăo Estęvăo A. de Freitas [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons c) "Baby zebra suckling" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chadica/3228143998/) by "Chadica" (CC BY 2.0) Slide 4 a) "The Meanest Bug in California" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/noisecollusion/448022427/) by noisecollusion (Matthew Robinson ) (CC BY 2.0) b) "Dung Beetle" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/amylovesyah/3945525048/) by Amy Loves Ya via (CC BY 2.0) c) "(4 of 9) Great Egret Chicks in Nest w/ Parent" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/2602321551/) by Mike Baird (CC BY 2.0) d) "koala australia animal nature conservation" (http://pixabay.com/en/koala-australia-animal-61189/) By Holgi (Holger Detje) [Public Domain](CC0 1.0) Slide 6 Wilson’s Bird of Paradise (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wilson%27s_Bird_of_Paradise_Best.jpg) by Serhanoksay (CC BY-SA 3.0) Slide 8 a) Lycaon pictus (Ree Park, Denmark) By Springcold CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons b) White-eared Marmoset 3 < https://www.flickr.com/photos/37804979@N00/5254121187> by Tony Hisgett, (CC BY 2.0) Slide 9 a) Table data from (Gross, Mart R. And Shine, Richard) Parental care and mode of fertilization in ectothermic vertebrates. Evolution. 35:4 (1981) pp. 775 – 793 b) "Anemone Fish Eggs" (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAnemone_Fish_Eggs.jpg) by Silke Baron (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Parental Care
Lecture outline What is parental care? How does care vary across animal taxa? What factors explain differences in care between species?
Forms of parental care Parental care = investment by parents in offspring fitness; usually at some cost to their own survival or reproduction Common forms: • provisioning of eggs with yolk • nests, burrows, shelter; heat • feeding of young after birth
Examples of parental care Water bug carrying eggs on its back
Great egret feeding her chicks
Dung beetle laying her eggs in ball of dung
Koala joey riding on mum’s back
How does parental care vary across taxa? Type of care
Taxonomic groups
No care
Most invertebrates, many fish
Female care
Most mammals, some reptiles, amphibians
Male care
Many fish, some amphibians
Both sexes care
Most birds, some reptiles, some fish
Key sources of variation: 1) physiological, life history constraints 2) costs and benefits of care
Bi-parental care: birds Reproductive output limited by rate at which nestlings can be provisioned; 2 parents do better than 1 Prediction: where food is ‘superabundant’, biparental care should be less common Example: in fruit-eating birds of paradise, males are ‘released’ from care
Wilson’s bird of Paradise
Answer: Both parents provide parental care. Most bird species provide bi-parental care (from both parents); this is because it requires the efforts of two parents to bring sufficient food to their chicks. In ecosystems where food is particularly abundant, these food constraints may be relaxed and only one parent can provide enough food (e.g. in birds-of-paradise).
Female care: mammals Prolonged gestation and lactation ‘predispose’ females to care
Wild dog
Internal fertilisation means that males have first opportunity to desert Where male care is important to food acquisition (carnivores) or transport (marmosets), males care Marmoset
Patterns of care in fish Internal
External
Male care
2
61
Female care
14
24
No care
5
100
Anemone fish eggs
Order of gamete release: internal fertilisation gives males the chance to desert first; female left ‘holding the baby’ Certainty of paternity is greater with external fertilisation because it takes place at the same time as oviposition Closer association of parent pre-adapts it for care
Summary In some species there is no parental care (invertebrates); in others female care (mammals), male care (many fish) or biparental care (birds) Variation across species can be explained by: - physiological and life history constraints - differences in costs and benefits of care, measured against benefits of additional matings
PDF Citations Slide 1 _MG_2581 peacock spider Maratus volans by Jurgen Otto (http://www.flickr.com/photos/59431731@N05/5521738809/). Reproduced with permission from Jurgen Otto. Slide 3 a) "Baya: Busy Building Nest" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/yogendra174/4958682759/) by Yogendra Joshi (CC BY 2.0) b) "Raw egg" (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raw_egg.jpg) by jefras a.k.a Joăo Estęvăo A. de Freitas [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons c) "Baby zebra suckling" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chadica/3228143998/) by "Chadica" (CC BY 2.0) Slide 4 a) "The Meanest Bug in California" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/noisecollusion/448022427/) by noisecollusion (Matthew Robinson ) (CC BY 2.0) b) "Dung Beetle" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/amylovesyah/3945525048/) by Amy Loves Ya via (CC BY 2.0) c) "(4 of 9) Great Egret Chicks in Nest w/ Parent" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/2602321551/) by Mike Baird (CC BY 2.0) d) "koala australia animal nature conservation" (http://pixabay.com/en/koala-australia-animal-61189/) By Holgi (Holger Detje) [Public Domain](CC0 1.0) Slide 6 Wilson’s Bird of Paradise (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wilson%27s_Bird_of_Paradise_Best.jpg) by Serhanoksay (CC BY-SA 3.0) Slide 8 a) Lycaon pictus (Ree Park, Denmark) By Springcold CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons b) White-eared Marmoset 3 < https://www.flickr.com/photos/37804979@N00/5254121187> by Tony Hisgett, (CC BY 2.0) Slide 9 a) Table data from (Gross, Mart R. And Shine, Richard) Parental care and mode of fertilization in ectothermic vertebrates. Evolution. 35:4 (1981) pp. 775 – 793 b) "Anemone Fish Eggs" (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAnemone_Fish_Eggs.jpg) by Silke Baron (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons
