Because of high developed brain, I think there is an affinity for next generation.
Dear all,
Yes, this is a result of the evolution of their brain.
Regards
Mammals (the k species) have fewer offspring as compared to fish or insects (the r species). Parental care is needed to ensure survival of the young. Besides humans, elephants are classic great parents that bring up the young within the safety of a herd. And elephants have tremendous IQ and EQ!
"The classic example of a K-selected species is the elephant. The best way to examine K-selected traits is to focus on this example.
Elephants are very large mammals native to Africa and Asia. Describing the life history strategy of the elephant could be considered the exact definition of K-selection. Elephants are large and grow very slowly. It can take upwards of 20 years to reach sexual maturity and the cows carry one offspring for nearly two years. The herd then cares for the baby elephant for several more years, to ensure that the infant survives to adulthood."
http://study.com/academy/lesson/k-selected-species-definition-examples-quiz.html
Their natural, instinctive and also the result of the evolution of their brain.
The mother's contribution is more because of the umbilical connect and emotional bonding. The offspring understands the care, protection, nurture and also feels the sacrifice mother undergoes during the process of rearing. The bonding is unimaginable in strength.
"Empathy probably started out as a mechanism to improve maternal care. Mammalian mothers who were attentive to their young's needs were more likely to rear successful offspring."
--- Frans De Waal
Dear all,
Yes, this is a result of the evolution of their brain.
Regards
There is a very different point of view expressed by Yuval Noah Harari in his recent book "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind".
More particularly, his thesis about why a human baby needs such a long period of parental care is very interesting.
By definition mammals have mammalian glands to feed babies with milk. So, the mother-baby bond is extremely strong, for the baby it is survival, for the mother a sort of continuation of carrying baby inside the body.
Therefore, nature demands parental care, but sometimes bonds get weaker later on in life and social problems start appearing when the care diminishes.
Certainly yes, brain development/evolution play a critical role.
Regards.
Out of security issue and evolution of brain, parental care is so developed in mammals.
A highly developed brain is not necessary for parental care. Many different parental care strategies are known from fishes, even a strategy of feeding the offspring with milk-like secret (which is found in discus fishes of the genus Symphysodon).
Parental care is just a survival strategy for species with slow growth, few offspring and predators threatening the young. Such a strategy increases the chances of survival of the offspring, by investing time and energy of the parents. In fishes, other strategies are possible as well.
As all mammals have glands to feed their offspring, they have adapted early in their evolution to a parental care strategy. This is not a question of brainpower, but is an exclusive adaptation, which in a way restricts the range of possible survival strategies. However, there is variation in the duration of parental care, which may be relatively short in rodents and extended in whales.
A highly developed brain is not necessary for parental care. Many different parental care strategies are known from fishes, even a strategy of feeding the offspring with milk-like secret (which is found in discus fishes of the genus Symphysodon).
Parental care is just a survival strategy for species with slow growth, few offspring and predators threatening the young. Such a strategy increases the chances of survival of the offspring, by investing time and energy of the parents. In fishes, other strategies are possible as well.
As all mammals have glands to feed their offspring, they have adapted early in their evolution to a parental care strategy. This is not a question of brainpower, but is an exclusive adaptation, which in a way restricts the range of possible survival strategies. However, there is variation in the duration of parental care, which may be relatively short in rodents and extended in whales.
I think human brain starts developing in mothers' womb as a 2-month old foetus, and umbilical babies use their hearing organ around 4-month to follow mothers language and feeling. Gradually they follow environmental noises while in foetus. Thus there is an ongoing learning process for them in mother's womb. I noticed the today's newborns are way smarter than those I have seen over the years.
I believe all animals develop some innate learning skill while in foetus, such a ducks swimming following birth as surviving skill. So, brain development starts early in all animals, and their degree is proportional to their evolution.
In fishes highly diversified parental care is noticed which is an evolutionary stable strategy to optimize its own genome propagation. The resolution is to protect its own gene-pool within the community at the best possible way. Its not merely highly exercised by the mammalian community but in other species also, like the eusocial insects exhibiting Hamiltonian fitness. So i thought it is an strategic move in the animal kingdom to preserve the best set of genes for future which is insured by the coverage of parental care we witnessed across the diverse taxa of animals.
It's very likely that most mammals have consciousness, and probably birds, too.
--- Richard Dawkins
- Badges
- Science topic