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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

Methods of Pairing and Pair Maintenance of New Zealand White Rabbits (Oryctolagus Cuniculus) Via Behavioral Ethogram, Monitoring, and Interventions

Methods of Pairing and Pair Maintenance of New Zealand White Rabbits (Oryctolagus Cuniculus) Via Behavioral Ethogram, Monitoring, and Interventions

Published on: March 16, 2018

When should cuckolded males care for extra-pair offspring?

Jannis Liedtke¹, Lutz Fromhage

¹Zoological Institute, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences

|March 23, 2012

Summary

In socially monogamous species, males may care for unrelated offspring due to pseudo-reciprocity. Surviving extra-pair offspring can help raise future siblings, offsetting care costs for males.

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Area of Science:

Behavioral Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Game Theory

Background:

Socially monogamous species with bi-parental care face reduced male reproductive success due to extra-pair copulations (EPCs).
Males might be expected to withhold brood care if EPCs are detected.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate male brood care decisions in cooperatively breeding species where offspring assist in raising subsequent broods.
To explore the game-theory dynamics of male parental investment in the context of EPCs and sibling cooperation.

Main Methods:

A game-theory model was developed to simulate male brood care decisions.
The model incorporated factors such as EPCs and the cooperative breeding system where offspring aid in rearing half-siblings.

Main Results:

The model predicts that males may be selected to provide care even for broods with no genetic relation to them.
This counterintuitive finding is explained by pseudo-reciprocity: surviving extra-pair offspring can provide future cooperative benefits.

Conclusions:

Pseudo-reciprocity, driven by sibling cooperation, can favor male investment in unrelated broods.
These findings may extend beyond cooperative breeders to other systems involving sibling cooperation.