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Caring for Offspring in a World of Cheats

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  • Dieter Lukas

Abstract

A comparative study of paternal care behavior shows how costs and benefits mitigate the occurrence of defense strategies against extra-pair offspring, keeping cheaters at bay but not completely out. Parents providing care to offspring face the same problem that exists in every biological system in which some individuals offer resources to others: cheaters, who exploit these benefits. In almost all species in which males contribute to parental care, females mate with multiple males. As a result, males frequently provide efforts for unrelated offspring at a cost to their own reproductive fitness. In a new study, Griffin et al. find that across a wide range of animal species, males flexibly adjust their contribution to parental care in relation to extra-pair paternity. However, adjustment is not perfect, because males are limited by the potential costs of withholding help to their own offspring, which is only outweighed if cheating occurs frequently and if providing care reduces a male's future reproductive success. These findings illustrate how in biological systems cheater and cheated can adapt to changes in each other, preventing either one from gaining control.

Suggested Citation

  • Dieter Lukas, 2013. "Caring for Offspring in a World of Cheats," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-3, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pbio00:1001519
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001519
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ashleigh S Griffin & Suzanne H Alonzo & Charlie K Cornwallis, 2013. "Why Do Cuckolded Males Provide Paternal Care?," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-9, March.
    2. Rufus A. Johnstone & Camilla A. Hinde, 2006. "Negotiation over offspring care--how should parents respond to each other's efforts?," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 17(5), pages 818-827, September.
    3. Stuart P. Sharp & Andrew McGowan & Matthew J. Wood & Ben J. Hatchwell, 2005. "Learned kin recognition cues in a social bird," Nature, Nature, vol. 434(7037), pages 1127-1130, April.
    4. Redouan Bshary & Alexandra S. Grutter, 2006. "Image scoring and cooperation in a cleaner fish mutualism," Nature, Nature, vol. 441(7096), pages 975-978, June.
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