In this lecture, we return to the notion that different amounts of physiological reproductive investment can lead to different behaviors. However, whereas we focused on mating behaviors and sexual selection in the previous lecture, we pivot to parental care behaviors here. Parental behavior involves interactions with a wider range of individuals – from multiple offspring (both current and future) as well as other individuals that share in parenting or the fitness consequences of parenting – as well as many more degrees of freedom of behavior. Life history theory, which we introduce in this lecture, provides a framework for understanding consistent behavioral patterns that tend to emerge from different environments. After discussing life history theory, highlight different forms parental behavior and the kinds of opportunities and conflicts that can emerge from them. After discussing topics surrounding infanticide in biparental care, we close with an introduction to classical theories in parent–offspring conflict.
Topic highlights:
- parental care and investment
- life history traits, life history strategies, and life history theory
- sibling conflict, sibling rivalry, and the insurance egg hypothesis
- uniparental, biparental, and alloparental care and relationship to internal and external fertilization
- sexual conflict and infanticide
- parent–offspring conflict
Important terms: anisogamous species, spermatophore, nuptial gifts, Syngnathidae, brood pouch, breeding sail, parental care, parental investment, life history traits, life history strategy, life history theory, 𝑟-selected, 𝐾-selected, sibling conflict, sibling rivalry, insurance egg hypothesis, parent–offspring recognition, external fertilization, egg guarding, mouth brooding, fry, alloparental care, uniparental care, biparental care, maternal care, paternal care, altricial young, joey, precocial young, sexual conflict, infanticide, concealed ovulation, The Bruce effect, parent–offspring conflict, begging, weaning
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