Lecture 7: Parental Behavior Flashcards
What is parental behavior?
Any behavior performed in relation to one’s offspring that directly contributes to survival of fertilized eggs/offspring outside of the female body
Maternal behavior is specific to ____ while parental behavior is specific to ___
Mothers; father
The sex who is choosier for potential mates tends to be the sex that will have a larger investment in ___ and ___ their offspring. This principle applies to most mammalian species, with ___ being choosier and therefore investing the most in parental care.
Feeding and protecting ; females
What species provide little to no parental care?
Fish: They release eggs to be fertilized, leave them on their own for development/survival
Reptiles: Many females cover eggs in dirt, sand, etc and leave them alone for hatching/survival
Since the pandemic began, the share of young adults living with their parents has risen to levels not seen since the _____
Great Depression
____ offspring are born/hatched at early developmental stages, generally quite helpless and require substantial parental care to survive
Altricial
____are offspring born/hatched at advanced developmental stages, which requires little to no parental intervention to survive
Precocial
What type of offspring require less initial investment per individual (during development)?
Altricial
What type of offspring require more initial investment per individual (during development)?
Precocial
The extent and nature of parental care depends on development of the ____
Offspring
90% of ___ species exhibit biparental care
Avian
Robins and starlings are _____ young while chickens and ducks are ___ young
Altricial; precocial
For altricial young, biparental care involves: ____, ______, and ____
Nest building; Incubation; food (typically weeks)
In precocial young, biparental care involves: ____, ___, and ___
Nest building, incubation, and broody behavior
In avian species, males may assist in ___, ___, or __ parental tasks
One, several, or all
Many primates (including humans) produce ____ offspring
Semi-precocial
Marsupials are mammals that lack ____, they have a pouch where mammary glands are located and used to transport young
Placenta
Some mothers display ____, meaning they will defend their young from intruders, even sometimes the father or pet owner
Aggression
Mothers provide ___, ___, and ___ for offspring
Food, shelter, and protection
_____ mammals are those with placenta during pregnancy, which allows for greater development prior to birth
Eutherian
What type of learning is involved in maternal care and behaviors?
Trial and Error Learning
Dams lick their pups after birth to clean off the ____ fluid and stimulate ___ of wastes
Amniotic; elimination
Dams adopt a nursing posture, huddling above the pups to allow access to the ___ and to provide ___ and ___
Ventrum; warmth; protection
When dams bring their pups back to the ___ if they wander away
Nest
Concaveation is also known as ___ _____
Pup induction
How long will it take for a nulliparous female to take on maternal roles if they are in the presence of pups?
4-6 days
How long will it take for a primiparous females to take on maternal roles if they are in the presence of pups?
4-6 days (after giving birth, she immediately starts taking on these roles)
An experienced female will have a __ latency to maternal response compared to an inexperienced female
lower
A female that has never had babies will have a latency period in response to pups, it will just be on average ____ days
4-6
Once primiparous mothers give birth their maternal latency becomes 0. Is this hormonally mediated or not?
Yes
Nulliparous females maternal behaviors are dependent upon __
presence of pups
In rats, what hormone is elevated during pregnancy/gestational period?
Progesterone (declines during parturition)
In rats, what hormones is elevated during parturition?
Prolactin
In rats, what hormone peaks right before parturition occurs?
Estradiol
In humans ___ and ___ rise during the gestational period, then decrease right before birth
progesterone and estradiol
What happens to prolactin levels during human pregnancy?
Prolactin levels increase gradually until parturition and stay elevated until nursing is completed
If human mothers have more circulating estrogen than progesterone in their blood, they may experience ___ attachment with their child. If you have less estrogen to progesterone, you will have __ attachment
low; high
When the blood of a new mother is transfused into a nulliparous rat, that rat showed maternal behavior within __ hrs
24
True or False: Paternal care and behaviors are visible in primates, rodents, and carnivores
True
For paternal care, certainty of paternity should be ___
high
True or False: There tends to be more parental care in non-monogamous species.
False - There tends to be more parental care in monogamous species.
California mouse father have increased ___ concentrations
prolactin
In expecting human fathers, concentrations of ___ and ___ are reduced while ____ concentrations are increased
testosterone/cortisol; estradiol
____ levels are decreased in father common marmosets when they are exposed to infant scent
Testosterone
