The findings are published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research team also looked at other factors, aside from fatherly care, which might contribute to earlier maturation. These included the mother's social rank, the presence of the mother and aunts, the number of offspring, rainfall in the year prior to the individual's maturity, and genetic factors. Together, these added variables explained some of the difference in the age of maturation, with a mother's presence having the greatest overall impact, even over the father's contribution. "If a kid loses its mother, it won't survive," Alberts explained. "So much is directly dependent upon her support, but we now know baboon fathers make an important contribution too." Toni Ziegler, an endocrinologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's National Primate Research Center, echoed Alberts' comments. "We're interested in what motivates dads to be good parents because there are so many men who just aren't good fathers," Ziegler said. Ziegler has found that marmoset and tamarind monkey males are heavily involved in infant care. Marmoset fathers, for example, remain monogamous for life and can often be seen toting, cleaning and playing with their young. They even pack on extra pounds when a female mate becomes pregnant, probably so that they can better withstand the rigors of parenting once their offspring are born. Human dads, in general, also stand out among other mammals. "Human males get a bad rap, but men are fabulous fathers in comparison to 90 percent of the rest of the mammalian world," Alberts said. "The new findings prove that paternal care goes back very deep into our lineage." Related Links: |
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