Parental Behaviour

Question 1

Parental behaviour evolved to improve what?

Answer 1

Parental behaviour evolved to improve survival of offspring and species fitness

Question 2

Which of Tinbergen’s questions does parental behaviour fit in?

Answer 2

Adaptive value

Question 3

In general species that provide intense parental care have what in terms of offspring and why?

Answer 3

Fewer offspring
In general species that provide intense parental care have fewer offspring

This is due to trade offs between the benefits and costs of parental behaviour

Question 4

What types of parental care are there?

Answer 4

No parental care
Single parent
Both parents 
Cooperative breeding
       This is where members of the parents extended family or group help rear the young

Question 5

The degree of care involvement also varies between species in terms of what 2 things:

Answer 5

Protection

Teaching important survival lessons

Question 6

Parental behaviour can also vary dependent on the type of offspring that species has
Give examples of types of offspring

Answer 6

Altricial
Hatched or born in an undeveloped state and requiring care and feeding by the parents

Precocial
Hatched or born in an advanced state and able to feed itself almost immediately

Question 7

What type of parental behaviour would you expect to see with altricial young?

Answer 7

Both parents contributing to the rearing of the young

Question 8

What kind of parenting would you expect to see with precocial young?

Answer 8

Single mother parenting

If the offspring are precocial then it’s unlikely to see males contributing to parental care

Question 9

We also see different forms of parental care depending on the social systems the parent live in
Give examples of this

Answer 9

Polygynous species
Polygynous species are where 1 male mates with multiple females
With polygynous species paternal care is reduced for both altricial and precocial young

Promiscuous
Promiscuous species are where an individual mates with any other individual
In promiscuous species the rearing of young is either exclusively done by the female or shared between both parents
Promiscuous species have:
More intensive care for altricial young usually
Less intensive care for precocial young

Question 10

What 3 things determine parental behaviour?

Answer 10

Types of offspring
Social systems the parents live in
Milk

Question 11

What about milk determines how much time the female spends with her offspring?

Answer 11

The composition and physiology of the species milk will determine how much time the female spends with her offspring

Question 12

What happens in species where females produce high milk contents?

Answer 12

In species where females produce high milk contents then nursing bouts are likely to be shorter
This is because they’re providing more energy in 1 go

Animals with less nutritional content in their milk will have more constant maternal behaviour directed to their infant

Question 13

What is the cause of conflict between sexes?

Answer 13

For males:
Gametogenesis is cheap in terms of energy and happens frequently
Investment in offspring is typically none to little

For females:
Gametogenesis is:
costly in terms of energy costs
happens rarely in females
Sometimes there can be an:
Induced ovulation
Delayed implantation
Investment in offspring care is often heavy

Question 14

What are the conflict between the sexes due to?

Answer 14

The differences are due to differences in their reproductive biology

Question 15

True or false

Although it is typically the females that rear the offspring there are exceptions to this in the animal kingdom

Answer 15

True

Question 16

Give examples of single father parenting behaviour in animals

Answer 16

In some species of fish the female lays the eggs and leaves the male to look at after them
The male will aerate the eggs which signals to other females that they’re a good parent and so the female will go and lay their eggs in his clutch as well

In jaw fish and amphibians the male will keep all the eggs in their mouth to keep them safe
In these species the males reproductive output is limited by their mouth size

In these species the fertilisation process is usually external to the mating individuals

Question 17

What 3 reasons are why females often provide more paternal care?

Answer 17

When fertilisation is internal the female will 100% know that the offspring is theirs since the offspring will develop and then leave the body to be born

Females usually raise offspring since the long term cost of raising offspring or providing more maternal care is reduced since it’s actually their offspring

Males don’t usually rear offspring because there’s a potential that it isn’t their offspring, so they would be spending energy ensuring that another males genes are passed to the next generation

Question 18

True or false

There is a conflict between the needs and the energetic demands of both parents and offspring

Answer 18

True

Question 19

For parents there is a point at which caring for current offspring compromises the potential investment they can give to future offspring
Due to this what is the difference in optimal care giving for parents and the optimal care receiving offspring?

Answer 19

The optimal care giving time for parents is shorter than optimal care receiving time in offspring

Question 20

True or false

Some actions that we observe from parents in captivity may be due to the conflicts between parental and offspring needs

Answer 20

True

Question 21

True or false
Some actions can advance the fitness of an offspring while reducing the the reproductive success of its parents and vice versa
Results in trade-offs between offspring quantity and quality within a brood/clutch/litter can vary

Answer 21

True

Question 22

True or false
Some actions can advance the fitness of an offspring while reducing the the reproductive success of its parents and vice versa
Results in trade-offs between offspring quantity and quality within a brood/clutch/litter can vary

Answer 22

True

Question 23

What can happen if the trade-offs are too high for the parent?

Answer 23

Abandonment

Infanticide

Question 24

True or false
There are some cases where the female will invest more resources into rearing the offspring if their farther is a particularly attractive male
This can also be seen in males if they’re in a species where the male rears the offspring

Answer 24

True

Question 25

There is also conflict between siblings to get the resources they need to develop, which can lead to what?

Answer 25

Siblicide

Question 26

How does siblicide frequency vary between species?

Answer 26

Siblicide frequency varies between species In some species siblicide is obligate Obligate = they always do it since it's programmed into them In some species siblicide is facultative Facultative = occuring optionally in response to circumstances rather than by nature

Question 27

In species where siblicide is facultative siblicide may depend on what 2 things?

Answer 27

Environmental conditions | Resource availability

Question 28

Who is each individual offspring competing with?

Answer 28

Current siblings Future siblings Each individual offspring is competing with its current siblings and its future siblings for their parents care and attention

Question 29

Give an example of facultative siblicide

Answer 29

In bird species where eggs are laid days apart the eggs will hatch at different times In these species siblicide is dependent on food availability If the older sibling is below the weight they should be at that point in their development then they're more likely to attack or eat the younger siblings This is so the older sibling doesn't need to share resources as much

Question 30

When siblicide is facultative the younger siblings use what mechanism to avoid being attacked?

Answer 30

When the body weight difference between the siblings is greater, then the smaller sibling won't beg for food as much This reduces the attention of the older/larger individuals

Question 31

Why have offspring evolved supernormal stimuli?

Answer 31

Offspring have evolved supernormal stimuli to try to trick their parents to continue to provide them with the care they want

Question 32

Give some examples of supernormal stimuli

Answer 32

Offspring, particularly mammalian offspring, have big eyes relative to their head size This is used to trick parents into caring for them Cats will pur at a frequency similar to that of a crying baby so that they can get more attention from humans Another stimulus to trick parents into giving them more attention is how the offspring cry for food Offspring can manipulate the call frequency and call intensity to do this In species with darker more salient linings inside their mouths they're fed more per hour

Question 33

True or false | Supernormal stimuli are species specific

Answer 33

False Supernormal stimuli are not species specific since they can work on individuals of another species as well

Question 34

Redder salient mouth linings are found in birds with what kind of mating practice

Answer 34

Redder salient linings are found in birds where they have extra pair matings More salient mouths are seen in species where the clutch/brood are made up of multiple parents

Question 35

True or false | An example of supernormal stimuli is seen with parasitic bird species that lay their eggs in other bird species nests

Answer 35

True Parasitic bird offspring are greedier, bigger and beg the most The parasitic offspring use supernormal stimuli to trick their foster parents to give them more attention than the offspring that actually belong to the parents

Question 36

What are causal factors?

Answer 36

Causal factors are external or internal stimuli that trigger behaviour

Question 37

Give some examples of causal explanation models

Answer 37

Models of maternal behaviour directed at altricial species are seen with rats A model of maternal behaviour directed at precocial species are seen with sheep Pigs have been used to study pheromones as a potential causal factor

Question 38

What are the 5 phases of maternal behaviour seen as the offspring develops?

Answer 38

``` Nesting Nursing Licking and grooming Protection and learning Weaning ```

Question 39

What happens in the nesting phase of maternal behaviour?

Answer 39

In several species the female will build a nest and prepare the environment for their young to be born into This a phase seen before the offspring is born In some species they build a complex nest structure in the nesting phase In other species the animals will do preparation type behaviours to make their immediate surroundings more suitable for new borns

Question 40

What happens in the nursing phase of maternal behaviour?

Answer 40

Once the offspring is born nursing is the next step seen in mammalian females In this phase females will feed the offspring

Question 41

What happens in the licking and grooming phase of maternal behaviour?

Answer 41

Licking and grooming is an essential behaviour particularly seen in altricial young This is because licking and grooming is important for: - forming a strong bond between mother and young - impacting the offsprings phenotype as an adult - allowing the young to pass faeces and urine - the hormonal effects which will determine masculinisation

Question 42

What happens in the protection and learning phase of maternal behaviour?

Answer 42

The female will display protective behaviour towards the offspring The female will also start teaching their offspring essential life skills/lessons

Question 43

What is an example of protective maternal behaviour?

Answer 43

Retrieving the offspring if they wander too far away

Question 44

What happens in the weaning phase of maternal behaviour?

Answer 44

In this phase the mother child bond changes The female will distance themselves from their offspring and be more aggressive towards their young This encourages the offspring to leave and be more independent

Question 45

What can we see in captive settings if the young are weaned earlier than normal?

Answer 45

In captive settings we can see maladaptivebot malfunctional forms of parental behaviour if the young are rejected earlier than normal

Question 46

True or false | Most species show some degree of nesting behaviour

Answer 46

True

Question 47

Hormones control the initiation of the nesting phase of maternal behaviour by controlling the timing of this phase Which 2 hormones do this?

Answer 47

Estrogen | Progesterone

Question 48

How can environmental factors effect maternal behaviour nesting phases?

Answer 48

Environmental factors can: Tweak nesting phase timing Determine where the nest is located/made Illicit certain forms of nesting behaviour to be more or less complex in their expression

Question 49

In mammals the onset of maternal behaviour is determined mostly by which ovarian hormones?

Answer 49

Estrogen | Progesterone

Question 50

What change in the estrogen:progesterone triggers maternal behaviour?

Answer 50

High estrogen and low progesterone concentrations trigger maternal behaviour

Question 51

Name some other hormones that trigger maternal behaviour and what their roles are

Answer 51

Oxytocin When oxytocin is acting as a hormone it's important for the rapid onset of maternal behaviour Oxytocin later on can act as a neurotransmitter to encourage bonding behaviour Prolactin Prolactin is only important for milk production and has no real effect on behaviour Prolactin is important for controlling milk quantity and composition

Question 52

True or false | Breeds can also show differences in maternal behaviour

Answer 52

True

Question 53

In animals emotional stimuli are processed by the right hemisphere of the brain How is this shown to affect maternal behaviour in humans?

Answer 53

In humans, evidence suggests that when babies are under 12 weeks old that the mother will tend to orient the baby towards the left side of their body Studies suggest that mother's unconsciously position their babies in a position that maximises their emotional processing of their newborn

Question 54

What is cooperative breeding?

Answer 54

Cooperative breeding is a social system in which group members help raise dependent young that are not their own

Question 55

What is cooperative breeding seen as?

Answer 55

Cooperative breeding is seen as a special case of altruism in animals

Question 56

What can affect individuals within a species to cause changes in how often cooperative breeding behaviour occurs?

Answer 56

Environmental and climatic conditions can affect individuals within a species causing changes in how often cooperative breeding behaviour occurs

Question 57

True or false Weaning is a gradual process in which offspring are slowly encouraged to eat foods other than their mothers milk until the young are completely off milk permanently In some species weaning also continues after the young no longer take milk until the offspring are completely capable of being independent

Answer 57

True

Question 58

Give some examples of further weaning past no more milk?

Answer 58

Relying on adults for learning | Relying on adults for protection

Question 59

The timing of weaning can also depend on the offsprings sex in some species Give an example of this

Answer 59

An example of this is that in social species: - males will leave the social group forever - females will remain in the social group and remain dependent on the group in some way

Question 60

True or false | The larger the litter size the earlier the weaning process will occur

Answer 60

True

Question 61

True or false | Weaning is a process only seen in mammals

Answer 61

False | In non-mammalian species they are just weaned off other things instead of milk

Question 62

Give an example of how maternal behaviour effects the phenotype of their offspring when they become adults

Answer 62

The amount of maternal care a mother gives to their young programs what the offspring will consider to be an appropriate stress response when they're adults