Parental Behaviour

Question 1

What determines high maternal care in animals?

Answer 1

1. Precocity of young (low)
2. Predator pressure (low)
3. Dispersal/predictability of environment (high)

Question 2

What determines low maternal care in animals?

Answer 2

1. High precocity of young
2. High predator pressure
3. Low dispersal/predictability of environment
   Dangerous environment, low parental behaviour

Question 3

What is altricial?

Answer 3

Animal is born helpless and underdeveloped when born, they cannot move around and cannot thermoregulate. This triggers maternal behaviour in mother rats

Question 4

What is precocial?

Answer 4

Animal is capable of moving around on its own soon after birth, ex: horses and giraffes

Question 5

What is maternal aggression?

Answer 5

A type of aggressive behaviour observed among new mothers when they fiercely defend their offspring from intruders

Question 6

Why is paternal behaviour less common (than maternal behaviour) in the animal kingdom?

Answer 6

Males conserve their energy for reproduction, whereas females conserve their energy for parental care

Question 7

What happened to the bar pressing for pups when the postpartum/cycling females had a lesion in the MPOA?

Question 8

What happened to bar pressing behaviour when the postpartum/cycling females had a lesion in the

Question 9

What are the three components of rat maternal behaviour?

Answer 9

1. Anogential licking (rats can’t poop or pee without simulation from mother rat)
2. Nursing behaviour (rats need nutrients)
3. Retrieval (carrying the rat pups elsewhere)