6533b7d0fe1ef96bd125a215

RESEARCH PRODUCT

It takes two to tango

Michael D. JennionsHanna KokkoHanna Kokko

subject

Sexual conflictAnisogamyOffspringBateman's principlePsychologyParental investmentInvestment (macroeconomics)Paternal careEcology Evolution Behavior and SystematicsDevelopmental psychologySimple fact

description

Abstract In most taxa, females are more likely than males to care for offspring. Why? Ever since Trivers' landmark work, the answer has been traced back to sexual differences in pre-mating reproductive investment (unequal gamete size or anisogamy). However, recent work shows that parental investment theory has inadvertently ignored a profoundly simple fact of life: every offspring has a mother and father. Taking this into account completely changes how we should think about sex differences in parental care.

https://doi.org/10.1016/s0169-5347(03)00009-0