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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 ...
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] This encompasses behaviors that aid in the evolutionary success of the offspring and parental investment , which is a measure of expenditure (time, energy, etc.) exerted by the parent in an ...
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]
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 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.
B. taitana is an oviparous caecilian, and there is a parent-offspring transfer of nutrients after birth. B. taitana offsprings are born in an undeveloped state, thus requiring feeding and care by the parents. The dentition of offspring includes 'fetal-like' teeth, which they use to peel and eat the modified skin of their mothers after birth.
The reproductive and parental care behaviors exhibited by this species have been of great interest to a variety of researchers, namely because R. imitator is the first amphibian to show evidence of monogamy, and because it independently evolved biparental care. [13]
The last reported wild specimen was seen in the 1980s. In August 2010 a search organised by the Amphibian Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature set out to look for various species of frogs thought to be extinct in the wild, including the gastric-brooding frog. [16]