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Animal Behaviour And Cognition > Parental Behaviour > Flashcards

Parental Behaviour Flashcards

1
Q

Parental behaviour evolved to improve what?

A

Parental behaviour evolved to improve survival of offspring and species fitness

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2
Q

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

A

Adaptive value

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3
Q

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

A

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

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4
Q

What types of parental care are there?

A 
No parental care
Single parent
Both parents 
Cooperative breeding
       This is where members of the parents extended family or group help rear the young
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5
Q

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

A

Protection

Teaching important survival lessons

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6
Q

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

A

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

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7
Q

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

A

Both parents contributing to the rearing of the young

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8
Q

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

A

Single mother parenting

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

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9
Q

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

A

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

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10
Q

What 3 things determine parental behaviour?

A

Types of offspring
Social systems the parents live in
Milk

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11
Q

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

A

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

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12
Q

What happens in species where females produce high milk contents?

A

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

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13
Q

What is the cause of conflict between sexes?

A

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

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14
Q

What are the conflict between the sexes due to?

A

The differences are due to differences in their reproductive biology

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15
Q

True or false

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

A

True

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16
Q

Give examples of single father parenting behaviour in animals

A

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

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17
Q

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

A

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

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18
Q

True or false

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

A

True

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19
Q

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?

A

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

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20
Q

True or false

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

A

True

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21
Q

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

A

True

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22
Q

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

A

True

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23
Q

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

A

Abandonment

Infanticide

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24
Q

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

A

True

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25
Q

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

A

Siblicide

26
Q

How does siblicide frequency vary between species?

A

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

27
Q

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

A

Environmental conditions

Resource availability

28
Q

Who is each individual offspring competing with?

A

Current siblings
Future siblings

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

29
Q

Give an example of facultative siblicide

A

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

30
Q

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

A

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

31
Q

Why have offspring evolved supernormal stimuli?

A

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

32
Q

Give some examples of supernormal stimuli

A

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

33
Q

True or false

Supernormal stimuli are species specific

A

False

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

34
Q

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

A

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

35
Q

True or false

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

A

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

36
Q

What are causal factors?

A

Causal factors are external or internal stimuli that trigger behaviour

37
Q

Give some examples of causal explanation models

A

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

38
Q

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

A 
Nesting
Nursing
Licking and grooming
Protection and learning
Weaning
39
Q

What happens in the nesting phase of maternal behaviour?

A

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

40
Q

What happens in the nursing phase of maternal behaviour?

A

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

41
Q

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

A

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

42
Q

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

A

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

43
Q

What is an example of protective maternal behaviour?

A

Retrieving the offspring if they wander too far away

44
Q

What happens in the weaning phase of maternal behaviour?

A

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

45
Q

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

A

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

46
Q

True or false

Most species show some degree of nesting behaviour

A

True

47
Q

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

A

Estrogen

Progesterone

48
Q

How can environmental factors effect maternal behaviour nesting phases?

A

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

49
Q

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

A

Estrogen

Progesterone

50
Q

What change in the estrogen:progesterone triggers maternal behaviour?

A

High estrogen and low progesterone concentrations trigger maternal behaviour

51
Q

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

A

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

52
Q

True or false

Breeds can also show differences in maternal behaviour

A

True

53
Q

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

A

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

54
Q

What is cooperative breeding?

A

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

55
Q

What is cooperative breeding seen as?

A

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

56
Q

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

A

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

57
Q

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

A

True

58
Q

Give some examples of further weaning past no more milk?

A

Relying on adults for learning

Relying on adults for protection

59
Q

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

A

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
60
Q

True or false

The larger the litter size the earlier the weaning process will occur

A

True

61
Q

True or false

Weaning is a process only seen in mammals

A

False

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

62
Q

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

A

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

Animal Behaviour And Cognition (13 decks)

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