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Parental care is seen in many insects, notably the social insects such as ants, bees and wasps; in certain fishes, such as the mouthbrooders; widely in birds; in amphibians; rarely in reptiles and especially widely in mammals, which share two major adaptations for care of the young, namely gestation (development of the embryo inside the mother ...
Vertebrate maternal behavior is a form of parental care that is specifically given to young animals by their mother in order to ensure the survival of the young. [1] Parental care is a form of altruism, which means that the behaviors involved often require a sacrifice that could put their own survival at risk. [1]
The care of offspring among amphibians has been little studied but, in general, the larger the number of eggs in a batch, the less likely it is that any degree of parental care takes place. Nevertheless, it is estimated that in up to 20% of amphibian species, one or both adults play some role in the care of the young. [128]
Characteristic of these toad-like frogs is their parental care; the males carry a string of fertilised eggs on their backs, hence the name "midwife". The female expels a strand of eggs, which the male fertilizes externally. He then wraps them around his legs to protect them from predators in the water.
The evolution of parental care in frogs is driven primarily by the size of the water body in which they breed. Those that breed in smaller water bodies tend to have greater and more complex parental care behaviour. [174] Because predation of eggs and larvae is high in large water bodies, some frog species started to lay their eggs on land.
An example are annual killifish which lay their eggs in mud. The parents mature quickly and lay their eggs before dying when the water dries up. The eggs remain in a dormant stage until rains stimulate hatching. Bitterlings have a remarkable reproduction strategy where parents transfer responsibility for the care of their young to mussels.
Paternal care may be provided in concert with the mother (biparental care) or, more rarely, by the male alone (so called exclusive paternal care). The provision of care, by either males or females, is presumed to increase growth rates, quality, and/or survival of young, and hence ultimately increase the inclusive fitness of parents.
The ringed caecilian is an example of an oviparous caecilian that exhibits parental investment through skin-feeding of the oviduct lining. Caecilian amphibians are worm-like in appearance, and mothers have thick epithelial skin layers. The skin on a caecilian mother is used for a form of parent-offspring nutrient transfer.