The Evolution of Parental Care

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clutton-Brock, T. H.

Series:

Monographs in behavior and ecology.

Monographs in behavior and ecology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Parental behavior in animals.

Behavior evolution.

Evolution #2 sao.

Beteende #2 sao.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 352 pages) : illustrations.

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2021

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J : Princeton University Press, 1991.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Synthesizing studies of parental care in a wide variety of animals, this book is the first attempt to provide general answers to the following important questions: Why does the extent of parental care vary so widely between species? Why do only females care for eggs and young in some animals, only males in others, and both parents in a few? To what extent is parental care adjusted to variation in its benefits to offspring and its costs to parents? How do parents divide their resources between their sons and daughters? In this book separate chapters examine the evolution of variation in egg and neonate size, of viviparity and other forms of bearing, and of differences in the duration of incubation, gestation, and lactation. The book reviews theoretical and empirical predictions concerning the evolution of parental care and examines the extent to which these are supported by empirical evidence. The author examines the distribution of parental care among offspring, reviews the empirical evidence that parents invest to different extents in their sons and daughters, and discusses the degree to which parents manipulate the sex ratio of their progeny in relation to the availability of resources.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Drawings at Chapter Openings

Acknowledgments

1. Parental Care and Competition for Mates

2. Forms of Parental Care

3. The Costs of Breeding

4. Propagule Size

5. Viviparity

6. Incubation, Gestation, and Lactation

7. Parental Care in Ectotherms

8. Parental Care in Birds and Mammals

9. Parental Tactics 1: Variation in Care in Relation to Benefits

10. Parental Tactics 2: Variation in Care in Relation to Costs

11. Parent-Offspring Conflict

12. Parental Investment in Sons and Daughters

13. Sex Ratios and Differential Juvenile Mortality

14. Conclusions

References

Indexes

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [267]-331) and indexes.

Description based on print version record.

With original drawings by Dafila Scott.

ISBN:

9780691206981

0691206988

OCLC:

1134769439