Parental care

1. Parental care • Any pattern of behaviour in which parent spends time and/or energy to improve the survival,conditionand future reproductive success of offspring. • Care can be given at any stage: • Prenatal(during pregnancy) guarding eggs, building nests, carrying broods, incubating eggs and placental nourishing. 2. Post-natal (after birth) providing food, protecting offspring, teaching offspring. Adapted from L. Kuun

2. Little or no parental care • Little or no parental care means a low reproductive effort. • Reproductive energy put into producing masses of eggs. • High mortality rate amongst eggs as well as young. • Few individuals survive to reproductive age. • Examples: Most fish, amphibians, insects, most reptiles Adapted from L. Kuun

3. When parental care is given • Few eggs or young produced. • Low mortality rate amongst eggs or young. • High reproductive effort. • Reproductive energy goes into parental care after birth (post-natal). • Most offspring survive to reproductive age. • Examples: Mammals, birds, some reptiles, exceptions amongst fish and Arthropods. Adapted from L. Kuun

4. Right: chicken laying egg, mother feeding young Left: Midwife toad Adapted from L. Kuun

5. Ovovivipary type of parental care Left: Male seahorse with young emerging from breeding pouch Adapted from L. Kuun

6. Adapted from L. Kuun