Parental care levels respond flexibly to changing reproductive conditions

Evidence

Since the pattern of contours changes with the amount of help the animal gets in caring for its young, the best response would also be expected to depend on conditions. Therefore, animals capable of taking note of conditions should evolve so that they change the amount of time they allocate to care of the young in response to changes in those conditions. The model is simple, but the expectation is matched by many observations of birds increasing the parental care devoted to their offspring when their mate deserts or disappears. — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 406

Categorization

• XREF: This conditional-rule view of cooperation parallels the reader’s Hardin/Luhmann thesis that trust requires observable constraints on opportunistic behavior — animal care rules respond to observable changes in partner help. — connects to: Concealed ovulation forces male presence that solidifies paternal bonds — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 986