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The interaction between homing and parental care offers insights about the motivational aspects underlying movement patterns in animals. For species that care for offspring at fixed locations, offspring mortality in the absence of care might impact a parent's motivation to home after being displaced from young. We tested whether homing motivation is related to parental care in the glassfrog Centrolene savagei (Centrolenidae), a species with extended male care and territoriality. Specifically, we evaluated how parental status (i.e. caring for eggs vs unmated yet territorial males) and translocation distance impacts homing motivation. Along a stream located in the Central Andes of Colombia, we translocated 23 male C. savagei between 5 and 80 m away from their reproductive territories. We found that both parental status and translocation distance impacts homing motivation, as caring males were more likely to return to their initial territories after translocation. Seven of the 16 caring males and one of the seven unmated males returned to the initial capture site. While unmated males might be motivated to home if reproductive territories are a limited resource, our results support that caring males exhibited much higher motivation to home. It is possible that the fitness benefits accrued from caring for vulnerable offspring alters the cost-to-benefits of homing, and thus accounts for a greater frequency of homing among caring males. This study contributes to understanding how aspects of life history (e.g. parental care) relate to homing motivation in vertebrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of cooperative breeding species have suggested that helpers are needed for infant survival and that helpers gain skills to successfully raise their own offspring. Studies of callitrichids in managed care and early field studies suggested that group size correlated with infant survival and that helpers needed to learn parental skills to be successful breeders. We present infant survival data from a 20‐year field study of cotton‐top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) in Colombia involving 126 litters born to 41 females. There was no difference in the survival of male and female offspring to 6 months of age. However, litter size impacted survival, with triplet litters having lower survival and male triplets having lower survival than females. Loss of infants was highest in the first week of life and, of the animals remaining in the group at 6 months of age, 90% of them survived to 1 year. The mean length of time in the natal group was 2.3 years but some young migrated to other groups after 4 months of age. Group size and number of male helpers (>1 year) was not related to infant survival. However, groups with only one male had fewer surviving infants. Primiparous females had lower infant survival, but previous infant care experience by mothers as helpers had no effect on survival. A major cause of infant loss was group disruption due to deaths/evictions/loss of the reproductively active animals, or immigration of pregnant females. Thus, factors that cause a change in the stability of the reproductively active animals can disrupt group cohesion. Capture of individuals for the illegal pet trade, as well as habitat fragmentation, may increase competition between groups for access to territories and breeding opportunities. This may have long‐term impacts to infant survival in this critically endangered species. Research Highlights: Cotton‐top tamarin survival is greatest in stable groups where the reproductively active adults remain until infants have matured. Infant mortality is highest when a resident breeder is evicted, died, or disappears from the group. First time mothers have low success, but prior infant caretaking experience is not important if other group members have assisted with rearing young. Although the number of helpers in the group does not influence survival, group composition is important. Infant survival is best when two or more males are available. Conservation efforts should maximize the stability of social groups threatened by increased competition for reproductive sovereignty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In tropical species, the study of parental care and the description of the intraspecific variation of parental care remain relatively understudied, especially when compared to the vast works dedicated to species from the Northern Hemisphere. In Colombia, the saffron finch Sicalis flaveola, is a species with a wide geographical distribution, and despite its abundance in open habitats and urban environments, little is known about its reproductive ecology. As a small‐bodied, short‐lived passerine, we postulated that the saffron finch should behave according to the 'reproductive value hypothesis', investing in the current brood at the expense of future survival. Consequently, we predicted: 1) that parental investment would be associated with brood size and 2) parental investment would be positively associated with nestling growth rate and reproductive success (defined as the number of nestlings which reached fledging age). In 2018, two reproductive peaks of S. flaveola flaveola were documented in the Meléndez campus of Universidad del Valle, Cali. Direct observations and video cameras (> 1700 h of recording) were used to monitor the nests from 38 different breeding pairs. We found that feeding visits and the number of regurgitation events were positively related to brood size. In an experiment of simulated nest predation, 85% of breeding pairs responded to the stimulus and parents who exhibited highly responsive behaviours (50%) raised nestlings with a higher growth rate. We also found that egg surface area positively affected the number of incubation bouts per hour. Whilst no relationship was found between overall parental investment and reproductive success, our results appear to show that the intensity of parental investment during reproduction was modulated by brood size. Our findings suggest that there are multiple ecological factors that influence reproductive success in the saffron finch, and reinforce the need for longer term studies of tropical passerines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anurans are good study models for a better understanding of the behavioral ecology of parental care in vertebrates because such behavior evolved multiple times independently in frogs and toads; moreover, forms of parental care are highly diverse in those vertebrates and according to the species is performed by the male, the female, or both sexes. In this study, we first recorded variations in parental care by males of the glassfrog Centrolene savagei at two temporal scales (day vs night, and throughout embryo development). Second, we compared levels of embryo mortality in egg clutches attended and naturally unattended by males. Third, we performed field experiments to simulate the risk of predation by small invertebrates to test the level of male commitment to providing parental care. During 65 field trips (1–2 nights each) we recorded 87 males and 154 egg clutches in a population of C. savagei from the Central Andes of Colombia. Parental care (measured as male egg brooding) was higher at night than at day, and it decreased from oviposition towards egg hatching as embryos developed. Embryo mortality was greater in naturally abandoned clutches, compared to those receiving male care. Most males caring for eggs but none of the solitary males exhibited defensive behavior, such as biting and kicking the predator stimulus. Preliminary results also suggest that caring males have a higher tolerance toward threatening stimuli before fleeing than did solitary males. Altogether, rates of natural mortality suggest that male care for eggs is likely adaptive in this species. Males protect their offspring from at least two causes of mortality: desiccation and predation. However, when and how much males care for the offspring varies between night and day, and through embryonic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Human development is determined by both genetic and environmental factors, especially during early childhood. Recently, research has indicated that the circumstances surrounding poverty can significantly influence children's development. In this study, we aimed to measure the developmental level of children living in low-income, rural areas in northern Colombia. A total of 629 children (aged 0-5 years) were assessed using the Battelle Developmental Inventory. Results indicated that 17 % of the participants had a general developmental delay for their age group. This was especially true for scores on cognitive development (35.5 %) and communication (21.5 %). Moreover, the number of children with developmental delay increased at 6 months of age and continued to increase after 1 year in the communication and cognitive domains. The findings of this study suggest that impoverished social contexts-such as the one studied herein-offer opportunities that favor the development of the social domain, but restrict the development of the cognitive domain. Therefore, to promote cognitive development, individuals within children's environment need to actively and intentionally stimulate them. Thus, there is a need for interventions that will improve environmental conditions; especially those that will help parents improve their caregiving practices and train educational staff to recognize and respond to the stimulation needs of children, especially those developmental domains that are affected by the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]