Male poison frogs become cannibals after taking over territories
Tuesday, February 28, 2017 - 18:51
in Psychology & Sociology
Systematic 'infanticide' of unrelated young occurs in several animal species. For carnivores and primates, infanticidal actions are mainly sexually motivated. A study has shown for the first time that also male poison frogs selectively eat other males' offspring -- after having taken over their rivals' territories. They were thus able to demonstrate that even simple decision rules can mediate a complex behavioral pattern such as parental care.