SEX AND PARENTING - THE EFFECTS OF SEXUAL CONFLICT AND PARENTAGE ON PARENTAL STRATEGIES

There is perhaps no more popularized aspect of animal behavior than th e things parents do for offspring. Yet our understanding of the evolut ion of care is only rudimentary, perhaps because parental behavior is one of the most variable behavioral traits we know. Sexual reproductio n, particularly in anisogamous species, has a major impact on variable patterns of care. Recent work on conflicts between the sexes over car e and the consequences of variable paternity on paternal care has gene rated fascinating new ideas about the evolutionary forces acting on pa renting.