Animal Parenting Archives - Dr. Carin Bondar

Mothers Day and Animal Moms

May 8, 2019 0

Mothers Day is a great day to celebrate your mom, people who held a mothering role in your life, or your own motherhood. Mothering in the animal kingdom can be dramatically different compared to the […]

European Badger Mothers Share Infant Care

May 1, 2019 1

In the case of European badger mothers, they share infant care by raising infants in a group. Each mom will have something slightly different to offer. This can be a buffer against maternal stress. When […]

Bat Moms and Lactation

April 17, 2019 0

As the only flying mammals, bat moms find themselves in a unique situation when it comes to lactation. Bat mothers need to provide milk to their offspring. Bat mothers also need to fly to forage […]

How Is The Alpha Female Meerkat “Queen” Chosen?

April 3, 2019 1

In cooperatively breeding mammals such as meerkats (as well as naked mole rats, and several social primates) there is a dominant breeding couple – the king and the queen. Other members of the group are […]

External Fertilization of Eggs and Embryonic Care in Fish

March 27, 2019 0

In fish species that engage in external fertilization, males ordinarily take over the bulk of embryonic care once females have left their eggs behind. Females may simply take off and leave their eggs to a […]

How Is Parental Involvement Affected By The Presence of Predators?

March 20, 2019 0

In the animal kingdom, high numbers of predators will inevitably cause some altered behaviour when it comes to parental involvement. Some Parents Choose To Decrease Their Involvement In several nesting bird species, parents decrease their […]

Adoptive Mothers In The Animal Kingdom

March 13, 2019 2

When a non-biological mother takes over complete care of an orphaned infant, it represents a great commitment. Biologically speaking, it doesn’t make sense for a mother to provide an abundance of care to an unrelated […]