The Evolution of Parental Care

Parental care includes a wide variety of traits that enhance offspring development and survival. It is taxonomically widespread and is central to the maintenance of biodiversity through its close association with other phenomena such as sexual selection, life-history evolution, sex allocation, sociality, cooperation and conflict, growth and development, genetic architecture, and phenotypic plasticity. This novel book provides a fresh perspective on the study of the evolution of parental care based on contributions from some of the top researchers in the field. It provides evidence that the dynamic nature of family interactions, and particularly the potential for co-evolution among family members, has contributed to the huge diversity of parental care behaviours expressed across as well as within taxa. The Evolution of Parental Careaims to stimulate students and researchers alike to pursue exciting new directions in this fascinating and important area of behavioural and evolutionary biology.

Foreword, T.H. Clutton-Brock
1. What is parental care?, Per T. Smiseth, Mathias Kolliker, and Nick J. Royle
SECTION 1 - Origin and Evolution of Parental Care
2. Theoretical foundations of parental care, Hope Klug, Suzanne H. Alonzo, and Michael B. Bonsall
3. Benefits and costs of parental care, Carlos Alonso-Alvarez and Alberto Velando
4. Patterns of parental care in vertebrates, Sigal Balshine
5. Patterns of parental care in invertebrates, Stephen T. Trumbo
6. Sex differences in parental care, Hanna Kokko and Michael D. Jennions
SECTION 2 - Conflict and Cooperation in Parental Care
7. Parent-offspring conflict, Rebecca M. Kilner and Camilla A. Hinde
8. Sibling competition and cooperation over parental care, Alexandre Roulin and Amelie N. Dreiss
9. Sexual conflict, C. M. Lessells
10. Sex allocation, Jan Komdeur
11. Paternity, maternity, and parental care, Suzanne H. Alonzo and Hope Klug
12. Cooperative breeding systems, Michael A. Cant
13. Brood parasitism, Claire N. Spottiswoode, Rebecca M. Kilner, and Nicholas B. Davies
SECTION 3 - Evolutionary Genetics of Parental Care
14. Parental effects in development and evolution, Tobias Uller
15. The quantitative genetic theory of parental effects, Jarrod Hadfield
16. Parent-offspring co-adaptation, Mathias Kolliker, Nick J. Royle, and Per T. Smiseth
17. Genetics and epigenetics of parental care, Frances A. Champagne and James P. Curley
Conclusions
18. The evolution of parental care: summary, conclusions and implications, Nick J. Royle, Per T. Smiseth, and Mathias Kolliker
Index