Latest Parental investment Stories

University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Many species pair for life, or so the story goes. In reality, there is quite a bit of cheating going on. Both male and female partners may have “affairs” outside the pair bond. In such cases, how is a male to know if the chicks he is feeding are really his? Depending on the species, males have different strategies. They may try to ensure paternity by increased surveillance and fighting off the competition, or by having more frequent sex with...

Alan McStravick for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The idea of the stay-at-home-dad has been getting its legs lately. Sure, we started off with quaint 80’s comedies, like ‘Mr. Mom’ and ‘Three Men and a Baby’, but, like the subject of this article, we are slowly evolving past focusing on the hijinx and silliness of the situation and viewing the caring paternal relationship in a more real light. We have experts, pundits and private-citizens who are arguing the merits of the...

Sexual reproduction can be thought of as a cooperative process in which two individuals come together to produce a new individual. It can also be viewed as a process in which two parties with differing interests, investment, and background interact to produce a new individual. From the former perspective, parental interests are unified (both wish to produce vigorous offspring), while the latter suggests possible conflict. This conflict can occur before or after fertilization. Before...