Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Parental Care00:55

Parental Care

Many animals exhibit parental care behavior, including feeding, grooming, and protecting young offspring. Parental care is universal in mammals and birds, which often have young that are born relatively helpless. Several species of insects and fish, as well as some amphibians, also care for their young.
Predator-Prey Interactions02:39

Predator-Prey Interactions

Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.
Mate Choice01:20

Mate Choice

Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.
Microbial Interactions: Predation01:28

Microbial Interactions: Predation

Microbial predation refers to the process by which one microorganism kills and consumes another to obtain nutrients and energy. It encompasses both bacterial and protozoan predators. This interaction plays a crucial role in shaping microbial communities and regulating nutrient cycling.Bacterial Predators: Epibiotic vs. EndobioticBacterial predators are classified based on their mode of attack as either epibiotic or endobiotic. Epibiotic predators, such as Vampirococcus, attach to the surface of...
Evolutionary Psychology01:20

Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary psychology explores the origins of human behavior and mental processes by framing them within the context of natural selection, a theory famously propounded by Charles Darwin. This field asserts that many behaviors common across human societies — ranging from instinctive fear reactions to complex social interactions — arose as evolutionary adaptations. These adaptations enhanced the survival and reproductive success of our ancestors, thereby becoming embedded in the human psyche...
Natural Selection and Mating Preferences01:06

Natural Selection and Mating Preferences

The principle of natural selection posits that organisms better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. This principle is closely intertwined with mating preferences, a key aspect of sexual selection, which evolutionary psychologists believe is driven by instincts to propagate one's genes. Such instincts significantly influence mating behaviors and preferences between genders.
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing, inherently...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Population-Level Laterality of Ambush Posture in the Chinese Green Tree Pit Viper (<i>Trimeresurus stejnegeri</i>) in Northern Taiwan.

Ecology and evolution·2026
Same author

Redescription and neotype designation of <i>Dopasia formosensis</i> (Kishida, 1930) (Squamata, Anguidae) from Taiwan.

ZooKeys·2026
Same author

The hills are alive with the sound of venom: Clinical implications of intraspecific variations in Factor Va mediated activations of Factor VII and Factor X in Swiss populations of Vipera aspis (Asp Viper).

Biochimie·2026
Same author

Pirates of the Caribbean (and Elsewhere): Three-Legged Lizards and the Study of Evolutionary Adaptation.

The American naturalist·2025
Same author

First identification and seasonal dynamics of hepatozoon and microfilariae in diploderma swinhonis (squamata: agamidae) from Taiwan.

Scientific reports·2025
Same author

Resting-state functional brain networks in hypertensive retinopathy.

Brain research bulletin·2025
Same journal

Landscape configuration and soil properties shape ant-mediated seed dispersal in tropical dry forest agricultural landscapes.

The Journal of animal ecology·2026
Same journal

Between-species contagion drives HPAI transmission and mass mortality in seabirds.

The Journal of animal ecology·2026
Same journal

Convergent digestive adaptation to resource limitation in an insular lizard across a microgeographic archipelago.

The Journal of animal ecology·2026
Same journal

Pollinator community composition and pollen resource use in calcareous grasslands under different landscape contexts across Europe.

The Journal of animal ecology·2026
Same journal

A global comparison of structural properties across ecological network types: The role of connectance, degree distribution and sampling inconsistencies.

The Journal of animal ecology·2026
Same journal

Native habitat affinities predict fish invasions with post-invasion habitat shifts.

The Journal of animal ecology·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 16, 2026

Using a Comparative Species Approach to Investigate the Neurobiology of Paternal Responses
07:59

Using a Comparative Species Approach to Investigate the Neurobiology of Paternal Responses

Published on: September 19, 2011

Predation drives interpopulation differences in parental care expression.

Wen-San Huang1, Si-Min Lin, Sylvain Dubey

  • 1Department of Zoology, National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung 404, Taiwan.

The Journal of Animal Ecology
|December 15, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Predators drive parental care evolution in lizards. Maternal care in Eutropis longicaudata is influenced by local predator abundance, not just genetics, showing behavioral plasticity.

Keywords:
behavioural plasticityislandsmaternal careparental care evolutionreciprocal translocation

More Related Videos

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice
04:20

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice

Published on: July 12, 2024

Probing the Limits of Egg Recognition Using Egg Rejection Experiments Along Phenotypic Gradients
07:34

Probing the Limits of Egg Recognition Using Egg Rejection Experiments Along Phenotypic Gradients

Published on: August 22, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 16, 2026

Using a Comparative Species Approach to Investigate the Neurobiology of Paternal Responses
07:59

Using a Comparative Species Approach to Investigate the Neurobiology of Paternal Responses

Published on: September 19, 2011

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice
04:20

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice

Published on: July 12, 2024

Probing the Limits of Egg Recognition Using Egg Rejection Experiments Along Phenotypic Gradients
07:34

Probing the Limits of Egg Recognition Using Egg Rejection Experiments Along Phenotypic Gradients

Published on: August 22, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Herpetology

Background:

  • Parental care is often an obligate trait, yet evolutionary theory suggests variation based on local selection pressures.
  • The lizard Eutropis longicaudata exhibits unusual intraspecific variation in maternal care, with only one population displaying this behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if the variation in maternal care in Eutropis longicaudata is a fixed population trait or influenced by environmental factors.
  • To determine if predator abundance explains the observed pattern of maternal care in this lizard species.

Main Methods:

  • Reciprocal translocation experiments with wild-caught female lizards.
  • Predator exclusion experiments to assess the impact of predation on maternal care.
  • Common garden experiments to differentiate genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

Main Results:

  • Translocated females exhibited maternal care consistent with their population of origin, indicating a genetic basis.
  • Lizards raised in a common environment adopted the maternal care strategy of the recipient population, suggesting environmental influence.
  • Egg predation significantly impacts fitness, but maternal guarding increases hatching success, outweighing predation costs.

Conclusions:

  • Predators can be a significant driver for the evolution of parental care, even in species where it is typically absent.
  • Local selection pressures, particularly predation, are sufficient to cause behavioral divergence in parental care strategies within a species.