Plants, animals and their environment. Parental care in mammals: the most touching facts An interesting example of parental care in mammals

Wedding dances and, alas, family worries This is a rare and unforgettable sight! Unfortunately, everyday worries do not allow many of the people to be present at the performances that wolf spiders ceremoniously play in the spring in front of their capricious spiders. Dr. W. Bristow

"Special meaning" One of the first significant changes that occur to your consciousness when you are in love is due to the fact that the object of love acquires, as psychologists say, "special meaning" for you. A loved one seems extraordinary, unique, most important

Parental contribution (why in most animals females take care of offspring more often) R. Fisher's theory clarified one of the mysteries of Charles Darwin's theory of sexual selection. Namely: in what way preferences in the choice of a sexual partner could arise and form. However, in

As you know, for the successful existence of a biological species, each generation of its representatives must leave behind offspring capable of reproduction. The success of his survival to a large extent depends on the adequacy of the behavior of the parents, which is an important factor in natural selection. In the process of childbirth and the subsequent process of caring for offspring, mainly instinctive behavior is realized. So, for example, immediately after the fetus leaves the birth canal, the female mammal releases it from the membranes, gnaws through the umbilical cord, eats the membranes and afterbirth, and actively licks the newborn. The cubs of a female who does not provide primary care for them are doomed to death in nature, and this trait, which is largely hereditary, is eliminated with them.

The success of the survival of the offspring to a large extent depends on the adequacy of the behavior of the parents, which is an important factor in natural selection. Caring for offspring in many animals begins with preparation for its birth. By the time of childbirth, females begin to show parental instincts, expressed primarily in the construction of dens, burrows and other shelters for future offspring. Parental instincts are especially pronounced in the immediate danger that threatens the death of offspring.

maternal behavior

Preparing for childbirth

Maternal behavior of the bitch develops under the influence of specific hormones. It begins to appear shortly before the onset of childbirth, and the time of its inclusion can vary significantly depending on the breed and the individual characteristics of the woman in labor. The first element of maternal behavior is the arrangement of a lair for offspring. If the bitches of a number of factory breeds practically do not care about preparing a place for future puppies, limiting themselves only to reflex digging up their own bedding and various soft things in the breeder's house, then the picture is different for dogs of folk breeds and pariahs. The simplest shelter option is a hard-to-reach shelter, whether it is a loophole under a woodpile or a sewer box. The bitches of sled dogs, with traditional keeping, make a shallow hole under the platform to which the team is tied; permafrost and water do not allow them to dig a deep hole. Solid burrows make females of the Central Asian Shepherd Dog in vivo. The entrance to the hole is located, as a rule, in the shade, next to some kind of shelter, for example, a stone, an adobe wall, a relief fold. The dimensions of the hole with a nesting chamber, built in very hard ground, stagger the imagination - an adult male can fit in it without much inconvenience. It is clear that even with the endurance and strength of these dogs, it will not be possible to dig such a shelter in a couple of days.

Self-protection can also be attributed to prenatal maternal behavior. Experienced females in some cases, soon after mating, abruptly change their behavior, starting to avoid heavy physical activity, soaking, hypothermia.

Behavior during childbirth

Fully maternal behavior is formed during the birth of the first puppy. When eating amniotic membranes and licking amniotic fluid from the skin of a newborn, the dog receives a large amount of hormones, including oxytocin, which, on the one hand, stimulate the normal course of the birth process and the separation of milk, and, on the other hand, trigger a complex set of care reactions for newborns. That grooming is an activated, self-reinforcing process can be seen in the handling of a mother, especially an inexperienced one, with her first puppy. First, she licks the newborn as if reluctantly, touching him with short movements of the tongue at noticeable intervals. Gradually, her movements accelerate, she is clearly excited, licks the baby non-stop, turning him from side to side, vigorously bites the umbilical cord. Young primiparous females are often so carried away that they prevent the newborn from gaining a foothold on the nipple and literally tear out the umbilical cord. With the advent of the second and subsequent puppies, the bitch calms down somewhat, distributing her attention, but her desire to lick the babies, massage them remains very strong.

It should be noted that if a bitch with normal maternal behavior constantly "loses" one or more puppies, rolling aside or even burying them in the litter, then such cubs have some congenital disorders, most often incompatible with life. Some bitches, like wild animals, eat non-viable and dead newborns.

Early postpartum behavior

After giving birth, the desire to take care of puppies prevails over everything: many bitches simply do not leave the nest on the first day. In the following days, they leave the puppies only for a few minutes - to quench their thirst, hunger, natural needs. Caring for newborns takes a bitch a lot of time. The bitch massages the stomach and perianal region of babies with her tongue, since in the first days after birth the sphincters of the urethra and rectum can relax only under the influence of external stimulation and spontaneous urination and defecation do not occur. Licking the whole body of a puppy is a good massage: the blood supply to the skin improves, dirt is removed from its surface. Due to the high content of lysozyme in the dog's saliva, licking protects the very delicate skin of the newborn from damage by pathogens.

In addition to licking, the mother warms the cubs own body, - their own thermoregulation is imperfect. The constant presence of the mother next to the puppies provides them with feeding at any time: they eat in the first days of life little by little, but often. As soon as the puppy wakes up, he immediately clings to the nipple, having had enough, he immediately falls asleep.

As puppies grow up, milk may not be enough. Under natural conditions, in this case, further selection by the mother of the cubs occurs. She focuses on the strongest and most developed, licking them more often, allowing them to stay on the nipples for a long time. The weaker ones are repelled by their brothers, and the mother stops paying attention to their squeaking and attempts to get to the nipples.

An excellent illustration of this fact is the report of the biologist J. Badridze, who for many years observed the behavior of wolves and wolf-dog hybrids. With an increase in the number of wolves, the number of hybrids with pronounced canine characteristics begins to decline sharply, and not only due to their direct destruction by a competing species. In hybrid litters, splitting occurs: some of the puppies are closer in characteristics to wolf cubs, and some are closer to dogs. Wolf cubs develop faster, dog puppies lag behind. Mothers, both she-wolves and bitches, prefer wolf cubs, puppies-dogs can die of hunger. Similar patterns are observed in females of the Central Asian and Caucasian Shepherd Dogs, when mothers clearly prefer large puppies to small ones, now and then “losing” small ones in the den. When examining the burrows of Central Asian females in places of traditional breeding, mummified corpses of puppies of various sizes are found in many of them, while females leave the den with one or two puppies.

At the same time, the birth of a single stillborn puppy in some cases has an extremely difficult effect on the bitch. At the same time, the expulsion of the dead fetus during in large numbers live puppies usually leave the bitch indifferent. The severity of the situation is due to the fact that in this case, maternal behavior is turned on completely: after all, the bitch not only made a nest, gave birth to a puppy, she also licked him, now he should have found a nipple, but this does not happen. Such a failure of the program - the absence of an object of care, despite the fact that the mother sees the puppy, touches him, brings her into a state of severe nervous overstrain. Time after time she tries to awaken the cub to life, licking him, pushing his nose. Attempting to pick up the corpse leads the bitch into a state of rage and extreme anxiety. Often, the bitch does not leave the dead puppy for more than a day, she cannot be brought out even by force, so she screams and rushes back. She loses interest in the corpse only with the appearance of the smell of decomposition, but even after that she looks for a puppy for a long time. In the case where the birth is under human control, the stillborn puppy should be removed as soon as possible so as not to stimulate the development of maternal behavior in the bitch. The same should be done with puppies that the breeder does not plan to keep, for example, outbred, obtained from random mating.

In addition to care and feeding, the bitch protects her cubs from enemies, while other bitches turn out to be the most dangerous for them. Infanticide in wild dogs and native breeds is a manifestation of maternal aggression and serves as a mechanism for regulating the number. Similar cases are not uncommon in dogs of breeds of factory selection, most often they are observed when dogs are crowded.

The behavior of the bitch during the period of mixed feeding of puppies

As the puppies grow, the mother continues to care for them, but her absences become more frequent and longer. At the same time, the bitch does not go far, she just begins to avoid long-term close contacts with already actively moving babies. They no longer need her warmth - if it's cold, puppies can bask, huddling together. Frequent licking is also no longer necessary, since urination and defecation are already regulated by the puppy. The mother continues to keep the nest clean by licking up the pups' feces.

By about three weeks of age, many bitches in the presence of a large litter of milk are already seriously lacking. The bitch begins to feed the puppies by regurgitating food or bringing prey in her teeth. At this time, she willingly accepts the help of the male father, and other members of the group in feeding the young and taking care of them. In puppies of some breeds, especially aboriginal ones, at this age, the edges of the incisors appear from the gums. After several unsuccessful attempts to suck solid food, small predators learn to scrape the meat with newly erupted teeth, tearing off the fiber. By a month, the surviving puppies, there are few of them in natural conditions, actively eat solid food, begin to get out of the den and play next to it.

The bitch continues to feed the puppies with milk, but not lying down, but standing up. Puppies are forced to balance on half-bent hind legs, holding onto the nipple with their front legs. It is clear that in such a position, the fights that have become common in the division of meat are impossible. The duration of feeding is two to three minutes, during which the grown puppies have time to milk the mother dry. With a normal mother's diet, her lactation can last up to 1.5–2.5 or even more months, which is also associated with the breed and individual characteristics.

Now the bitch licks the cubs rarely, it is rather a gesture of location when the tongue touches the muzzle and ears than a hygienic procedure. She usually stops cleaning the den when the proportion of milk in the puppies' diet decreases sharply. Puppies begin to show hygienic behavior. Now the family uses the lair less and less, hiding in it only from rain or heat, as well as when possible enemies appear.

Late maternal behavior

The mother begins to play with the cubs as soon as they can actively move, however, with the onset of the second period of socialization, she plays with them more often and longer, diversifying the game.

Puppies in the game learn to control their body, hide and attack, fight, run away and catch. Depending on the breed, the duration and complexity of learning how to fight can be different.

One gets the impression that an experienced bitch is engaged in training quite consistently, showing the puppies tricks that are easy for them to perform at this age, and in every possible way encouraging the development of these techniques on each other, and on herself. After a while, the turn of another skill comes.

While the puppies are a little over a month old, the mother simply allows them to climb on their own, gnaw their paws, folds of the skin, invites them to run after themselves, making sure to catch up. The mother teaches older puppies to overturn the opponent with a jerk from below by the front paw. As soon as the puppy correctly grabs the mother's leg, she immediately falls on her side, allowing him to play with him. A trained puppy immediately tests the skill on brothers and sisters, and within a few days the whole family grabs each other by the paws and knocks them to the ground. At the same time, the ability to protect the forelimbs during a fight is practiced.

After this cycle, the bitch teaches the puppies to cut corners and use obstacles when playing catch-up. It is interesting that this game, becoming more and more complicated, passes through the entire childhood and youth of the dog. At the same time, the mother in a certain way “sets” all the puppies on one, whom they pursue together. A puppy can act as a “victim” for a matter of minutes, or maybe a whole day. It is likely that in this game, young animals learn not only the techniques of catching prey, but also have the opportunity to experience different social roles, being now persecuted, now a persecutor.

The games of puppies of different breeds are somewhat different. For example, the Central Asian Shepherd Dog learns how to knock down the enemy with a blow to the body, a grip on the throat in the groin, which, of course, is necessary to be able to do a wolfhound. On the other hand, in greyhounds, where one would expect extensive training specifically in catching prey, the difficulty of playing catch-up is no different from other breeds.

The bitch begins to teach the puppies the rules of "life in society" early, shows that too noisy games are not welcome. A small puppy, when he pulls everyone in a row and constantly sticks to his mother, she can calm down, forcing him to take a pose of submission. To do this, the bitch turns the puppy on its back with its muzzle and pokes it several times with its nose in the stomach, as if fixing the pose.

In the second period of socialization, when fights begin in the litter to establish a primary hierarchy, the bitch, and often the male, ensures that the puppies move on to ritualized interactions. The most active and energetic puppy, often causing pain to others, is taught the concept of "other people's pain." The puppy is constantly shaken, pulled on the skin, knocked down, getting cries of pain from him, only then the potential hard dominant is released. A puppy can be brought up by almost the whole pack and for more than one day, until he remembers that in response to a signal of pain, the enemy should be released.

paternal behavior

As the puppies grow older, the father is increasingly involved in their upbringing, so it is now appropriate to analyze the parental behavior of the male. In essence, this complex is completely unrelated to maternal behavior. First of all, it does not require specific hormonal stimulation to turn it on. A male caring for offspring demonstrates a whole set of elements associated with the care of a high-ranking animal for a low-ranking one.

Attitude towards suckling puppies

The male usually does not come into contact with very small puppies, since the bitch strives not to let anyone from the pack close to the nest. With a low level of intra-pack aggression, as is observed, for example, in greyhounds, puppies are usually not hidden, but even there males do not show interest in them until they begin to actively move. A recently matured male who has never seen newborn puppies can sniff them like any unfamiliar object.

The male guards the den together with the female, or in the absence of that. Such protection is necessary in natural flocks, since it is physically difficult for one mother to protect the brood from possible dangers. Protecting the territory around the den within the territory of the pack strengthens the friendly affection between the dog and the bitch, and outside the breeding season allows them to have a higher status together than apart.

The male helps the bitch to get food both for herself until she goes far from the den, and for the puppies when they switch to mixed feeding.

Attitude towards puppies at the second stage of socialization

When the puppies start running, they approach any dog ​​that appears near the den with interest and joy. The puppies that run up to the male surround him, spin under his belly, try to jump up and lick him in the muzzle. If the puppies are annoying enough, the male will sometimes burp up some food. He can lie down and allow the kids to gnaw their paws, tail, protecting only the genital area. When the puppies become completely unbearable, the male gets up and leaves without trying to moderate their activity, as a bitch would do.

When the puppies enter the second period of socialization, the male already actively communicates with them, teaches, like the mother, the methods of fighting, hunting, but especially diligently - the correct social behavior.

The demonstrations of the threat that the male addresses to the puppies are interesting. In addition to the usual aggressive displays in the form of growls and grins, underlined images of intentions are quite common. The male exaggerates how he will severely punish the offending puppy. He puffs up, exaggeratedly sniffs, stamps his feet, chasing a puppy running away with a screech.

Parental behavior towards teenagers

When the puppies finally leave the den and begin to move around with their parents, they make sure that the cubs stay nearby, protect them from dangers, and show new types of food. Both mother and father pass on experience to offspring, teaching by example, forcing a growing dog to do everything as they do. Given that social animals are characterized by imitation, learning by example is very powerful. Adult dogs show young ones what to avoid in the world around them, and what not to be afraid of.

In this regard, the behavior of pariah dogs living in megacities with a very complex and dangerous environment for animals is very instructive. Parents show the puppies routes on which to gather food, leading the young from the rear doors of the butchery to the dining room window, from there to the entrance of the factory, etc. In this case, the path usually lies away from busy roads. When stray animals are actively hunted in the city, pariah dogs force young animals to flee at the sight of a suspiciously stopped car, or a person heading in their direction.

It is interesting to watch how a teenager is taught to cross the street. If there is an underground passage, many packs of settled pariahs use it only. If there is no transition, the parents, approaching the edge of the sidewalk, stop the young one, pinching him between themselves. Further, poking their noses and grabbing their skins, they make them turn their heads to the left, they stand, waiting for a long interval between cars. Then a dash to the center line follows and everything repeats: stopping, turning the head to the right, waiting, crossing the second half of the street.

I had a chance to observe when in such a situation one puppy fell behind the family, rushed about in the middle of the road and almost fell under the wheels. When he did get to the curb, his parents knocked him down and stood over him for a long time, growling menacingly. There was a clear educational act.

Another observation. A group of four teenage puppies, barking, is chasing a domestic dog through the snowdrifts - a large laika half-breed walking without an owner. The behavior of puppies is clearly hunting in nature. At a distance, on both sides of the hunting flock, two adult dogs are moving, obviously parents watching the actions of the children. As soon as a layoid hides in a panic in the entrance, adult dogs immediately take away the young. The scene is very similar to the behavior of wolf families when teaching young ones to hunt serious game.

Relationships with older children

The older the puppies get, the less their parents care for them, but often a peculiar bond of loyalty remains with fully grown children.

In natural flocks, children of the previous year can help in raising younger cubs. It is not rare that eldest daughter becomes an "aunt" for the younger ones, cleans them, educates them, sometimes even begins to lactate after her mother. A mother who has raised puppies well retains a certain superiority over adult sons, in any case, these males do not try to dominate her. Not only in a natural pack, but also in a kennel, some puppies spend almost the entire second period of socialization with their mother. Such males, having met with their mother even after 2–3 years, unconditionally recognize her right of seniority, willingly play, often demonstrating purely puppy behavior.

SECTION II

ONTOGENSIS OF THE DOG

Meeting 44

Target: tell students about the reproduction of animals and caring for offspring; promote speech development logical thinking; develop a love for animals.

During the classes

I. ORGANIZATIONAL MOMENT

II. UPDATE OF BASIC KNOWLEDGE

What are the features of animals in comparison with other animals?

What group of animals do humans belong to?

Are the forms of locomotion characteristic of terrestrial and aquatic animals?

What is the significance of the forest in the life of animals?

Prove that animals are the most developed among animals.

III. MESSAGE TOPICS AND LESSON OBJECTIVES

Today in the lesson you will learn more about the reproduction of animals and the care of offspring.

IV. STUDY NEW MATERIAL

1. Work on the textbook (pp. 117-118)

Remember! How do animals adapt to life in different environmental conditions?

What did the Wise Lesovichok tell about the reproduction of animals?

What periods in the life of animals can be distinguished during the year?

What are the most important ones?

Tell us how the animals prepare shelters for their future babies.

Is the trait common to all animals?

View photos of us. 117 and 118. Tell us what they show.

Animals give birth to children, feed them with milk. Remember how your cat or dog takes care of their cubs, how they protect their offspring. Many animals have young long time stays with parents, adopts their experience. Thanks to this, the cubs learn to survive in nature.

conclusions

Animals feed their babies with milk and take care of their offspring. In this they differ significantly from other animals.

The most important period in the life of animals is the period of reproduction and care for offspring.

2. Physical education

V. GENERALIZATION AND SYSTEMATIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE

1. Interesting to know!

How do animals communicate with each other? Animals use different signals to communicate. They make sounds to warn of danger. For example, when a monkey sees a leopard sneaking up on a pack, it starts screaming, and the rest of the monkeys run away from danger.

Animals give an alarm signal with the help of colored spots. When a deer senses danger, it becomes alert and raises its tail. Under the tail, he has a large bright white spot - a "mirror". The rest of the deer immediately notice her and prepare to meet the enemy.

2. Research workshop

How do animals take care of their offspring?

Most parent animals worry about their offspring. For example, in some birds, chicks are born naked and helpless. They grow quickly, and therefore they need a lot of food. It is not easy for the birds - parents. Starlings, for example, bring food (insects) to their chicks 300 times a day, tits - 400 times. Subsequently, the chicks leave the nest. Although they are already covered with feathers, they still do not fly well. They cannot feed on their own. Parents feed their chicks all this time and protect them from enemies, even trying to drive cats or dogs away from chicks.

Animals take care of their offspring in different ways: they lick, protect, teach to walk, fly or swim, defend themselves, feed them with milk, and then show edible plants, learn to hunt. Usually the mother takes care of the children, but there are exceptions. Animals choose a territory in advance, carefully guard and prepare shelters for future offspring - nests, burrows, dens.

Newborn babies need food first and foremost. Mammal females feed their young with milk. For several weeks, birds must put food into the beaks of the ever-hungry chicks many times a day.

Newborn babies also need warmth. Birds keep their chicks warm for several days until they are covered with down. However, the chicks of brood birds (pheasants, chickens, etc.) are born well developed and immediately leave the nest, following their mother everywhere.

Cubs of ungulates are born fully developed and able to move independently. Mothers carefully lick them and push them with their nose, encouraging them to rise to their feet - otherwise the babies can become easy prey for predators.

Cubs of marsupials are born when only the forelimbs and mouth are well developed. Further development takes place in the mother's pouch.

Predators usually live together for several months, during which time they teach the kids everything they need for life: hunting, chasing, disguise, attack, butchering a caught carcass, etc.

The king penguins take turns taking care of the baby. The female lays one egg and passes it to the male, who incubates it. The female is stocking up on food at this time. The mother returns when the baby has hatched, and the father goes to eat. The baby is taught to store fat, swim, ride on his tummy and walk, leaning on his tail.

The cubs live with their mother for 2-3 years, together with the older cubs.

Elephants and some species of monkeys live with cubs for about 8-10 years. Almost all adult members of the group take part in the upbringing of offspring: older brothers, sisters, females without their own children. They watch the kids, feed, care for them, play with them.

VI. SUMMARIZING. REFLECTION

Make up a story about the life of some animal of your choice, the life of which you have the opportunity to observe on your own.

Project "We equip our planet"

- Think: how can we protect animals on our planet.

VII. HOMEWORK

In dealing with babies, people and animals are very similar. This is what caring for the little ones in the animal kingdom looks like. Elephants can adopt someone else's baby elephant, which is not taken care of by its own mother. No wonder there is a cartoon about a mammoth, for which mom will come.
The larger and larger the animal, the more attention and care is given to the cub. Animals that give birth more often and have more babies pay far less attention to their offspring. Here quality is compensated by quantity. And if 2-3 members of the offspring die, the rest will survive, and the population will be maintained.
Lions accompany a lion cub on a walk.
In the heat, a protective pigment is released into the milk of the female hippopotamus, and the mother feeds the baby with reddish milk.
Since the babies are born naked, the mother squirrel carefully wraps them in moss when she runs away from the nest.
Female armadillos can freeze the pregnancy if conditions are unfavorable and give birth to a baby two years later. And female armadillos only give birth to cubs of the same sex. She began to give birth to females, and will give birth to them. And the other female will give birth only to males.

Otter babies are born blind. The mother feeds them for several months: first with her milk, then she catches fish with them, after some time the cubs can already take care of themselves.
Pigeons, although they say a lot of good things about them, are creatures quite different in behavior. They have very different tempers. One male will help his female feed the babies. And the other will peck them. Just like people.
An hour later, a born giraffe cub is already firmly on its feet, and six hours after birth, it is already running and can eat grass.
Some types of crocodiles carry their cubs in the mouth or on the head of the female, otherwise zealous dads can eat them.
Swans are wonderful mothers. Almost constantly they look: are their babies doing well, comb out their feathers with their beak, carefully roll under the wing.
Papa fox helps the family to feed. Foxes raise from 3 to 13 cubs, it all depends on the food supply. If the year is fruitful, then foxes give birth more often and more foxes.
Learning life skills takes place in the form of a game. In this sense, lions are quite unique animals.
Bear cubs are born blind and deaf, after a few days they begin to see, hear, eat grass, grasshoppers, the main food is brought by the mother, and the older children help raise them.
After 3-4 years, the breeders grow up, the kids themselves become breeders. The bear father does not participate in the upbringing of offspring.
AT good year the female vole brings up to 8 litters, each of which contains 10-15 cubs.
A female Virginian opossum has up to 25 babies. And there are only ten nipples. The most impudent and hungry kids survive.
When an egg appears in the penguin family, the females go to sea for 3-4 months, and the father incubates the egg.
Gophers breed 6-8 cubs. During the spring rut, the males are the first to wake up, start whistling, and wake up the females. And they scream in hoarse drawling voices. Herons are careless mothers: when a kite arrives, they can let him carry the chicken away without even resisting. In addition, herons are quite dirty birds: they are just waiting for the moment to destroy a neighbor's nest or stir up the grass where other people's chicks sleep. And they look so beautiful!