Why do sexy dads get all the chicks? (rats!)
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Well we've seen that monkeys can be
at-home dads, but how many other male animal
species can make the same claim? A quick look in YouTube uncovered this male rat
experimenting with the primary care-giver
role. I began an afternoon search for the hardest working animal dad, so I looked for more research
and researched
that research and
the Oscar for hardest working male species goes to.... The Emperor Penguin. And
by a landslide. And
its not because they were last years
Oscar
winner for best documentary,
or that they were chosen to be the
mascot for the
North
East Wisconsin At-Home Dads. It's because after the female penguin lays her
egg she hands it off to dad and takes off shopping for more food.... 2 months
later she comes back, but not before dad (with the egg balanced on his feet the
whole time) freezes and starves half to death.
Below
are the 4 runner ups:
1.
The Seahorse Dad - Tennessee
Aquarium's curator of fishes says the male gets the eggs from mom and
carries them to term. Dad isn't technically pregnant but he's got them 'em in
his pouch till they are born.. These guys really got cheated out of the
award.
2.
The Reah (Big Bird) Dad - (The largest
bird from South America.) When the Reah mom hatches her eggs she shacks up
with other Reah dads while the biological dad takes over and attacks anyone,
(even the mom) who comes near the eggs. (He beat out
the Cassowary Bird Dad,
from Australia who sits on the eggs for a few months then does the child care for the first nine
months. not bad.)
3. The Sand Goby
Dad (a small fish from the British coast) - Nothing to be proud of here
really. This research from the University
of Florida - (2004) shows that when the females are watching and double-checking
everything like wives usually do, the dads will protect the eggs, but when mom
isn't around the house, dad tends to eat them. The researchers note "being a good [Sand Goby] father is
very sexy. This is almost a cliche, as it has become a standard joke that the
best way to get women to be interested in you as a single guy is to borrow a
baby or a puppy. Women obviously find ‘caring guys’ very sexy".
4.
Lions, bears, prairie dogs, orcas, gray whales, and sheep (tie). -
If you have read this far, these animals and more are explored
in Jeffrey Masson's amazing, extensive (and certainly more legitimate
then mine) research of other research in his book, The Emperor's Embrace: Reflections on Animal Families and Fatherhood
Disqualified
The
Barking Frog Dad Fraud - The Barking Frog dad was getting credit for guarding
the "egg clutch" which stemmed from 1950's research
but it was disqualified for a nomination because the Tucson
Herpetological Society put the myths to rest with their own studies stating
" our
radio-tracking data from Arizona suggests that males move too frequently to
guard eggs and that females may stay with the clutch (Goldberg and Schwalbe,
2000)."
