Abstract
Parents sometimes eat their young to reduce the consequences of brood overcrowding, for nutritional gain, and/or to redirect investment toward future reproduction. It has been predicted that filial cannibalism should be more prevalent when mate availability is high as parents can more easily replace consumed young. Reviewing the available evidence—which comes almost exclusively from studies of paternal caring fish—we find support in some species, but not others. To explain this, we hypothesize that sexual selection against filial cannibalism and/or the tendency to acquire larger broods under conditions of high mate availability discourages filial cannibalism. Additionally, filial cannibalism might occur when mate availability is low to facilitate survival until access to mates improves. Since attractiveness can also influence remating opportunities, we review its effect on filial cannibalism, finding that attractive parents engage in less filial cannibalism. More research is needed to determine if this relationship is a result of individuals showing adaptive plasticity in filial cannibalism based on self-perceived attractiveness, or if the attractiveness of individuals is reduced by their propensity to commit filial cannibalism. More generally, to advance our understanding of how mate availability influences filial cannibalism, future studies should also focus on a wider range of taxa.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 47-67 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | Quarterly Review of Biology |
| Volume | 91 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2016 |
Keywords
- Filial cannibalism
- Infanticide
- Mate choice
- Parental care
- Sex ratio
- Sexual selection
Cite this
}
How mate availability influences filial cannibalism. / Deal, Nicholas D S; Wong, Bob B M.
In: Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 91, No. 1, 01.03.2016, p. 47-67.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - How mate availability influences filial cannibalism
AU - Deal, Nicholas D S
AU - Wong, Bob B M
PY - 2016/3/1
Y1 - 2016/3/1
N2 - Parents sometimes eat their young to reduce the consequences of brood overcrowding, for nutritional gain, and/or to redirect investment toward future reproduction. It has been predicted that filial cannibalism should be more prevalent when mate availability is high as parents can more easily replace consumed young. Reviewing the available evidence—which comes almost exclusively from studies of paternal caring fish—we find support in some species, but not others. To explain this, we hypothesize that sexual selection against filial cannibalism and/or the tendency to acquire larger broods under conditions of high mate availability discourages filial cannibalism. Additionally, filial cannibalism might occur when mate availability is low to facilitate survival until access to mates improves. Since attractiveness can also influence remating opportunities, we review its effect on filial cannibalism, finding that attractive parents engage in less filial cannibalism. More research is needed to determine if this relationship is a result of individuals showing adaptive plasticity in filial cannibalism based on self-perceived attractiveness, or if the attractiveness of individuals is reduced by their propensity to commit filial cannibalism. More generally, to advance our understanding of how mate availability influences filial cannibalism, future studies should also focus on a wider range of taxa.
AB - Parents sometimes eat their young to reduce the consequences of brood overcrowding, for nutritional gain, and/or to redirect investment toward future reproduction. It has been predicted that filial cannibalism should be more prevalent when mate availability is high as parents can more easily replace consumed young. Reviewing the available evidence—which comes almost exclusively from studies of paternal caring fish—we find support in some species, but not others. To explain this, we hypothesize that sexual selection against filial cannibalism and/or the tendency to acquire larger broods under conditions of high mate availability discourages filial cannibalism. Additionally, filial cannibalism might occur when mate availability is low to facilitate survival until access to mates improves. Since attractiveness can also influence remating opportunities, we review its effect on filial cannibalism, finding that attractive parents engage in less filial cannibalism. More research is needed to determine if this relationship is a result of individuals showing adaptive plasticity in filial cannibalism based on self-perceived attractiveness, or if the attractiveness of individuals is reduced by their propensity to commit filial cannibalism. More generally, to advance our understanding of how mate availability influences filial cannibalism, future studies should also focus on a wider range of taxa.
KW - Filial cannibalism
KW - Infanticide
KW - Mate choice
KW - Parental care
KW - Sex ratio
KW - Sexual selection
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84962129675&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1086/685303
DO - 10.1086/685303
M3 - Article
VL - 91
SP - 47
EP - 67
JO - Quarterly Review of Biology
JF - Quarterly Review of Biology
SN - 0033-5770
IS - 1
ER -