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= Alloparenting = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In biology, sociology, and biological anthropology, alloparenting is a system of parenting in which individuals other than the biological parents of the offspring provide care or parental investment (PI). Alloparenting is a defining characteristic of cooperative breeding systems. Alloparenting behavior is found across taxonomic groups including mammals, birds , fish , and insects. Many different primate species exhibit alloparenting behavior.

Alloparenting does not require the individual(s) providing the care to be aware that they are providing parental investment for offspring that is not their own biological offspring. Brood parasitism is a reproductive strategy in which an individual manipulates another individual of the same species (intraspecific brood parasitism) or of a different species (interspecific brood parasitism) into providing care for the brood parasite's offspring. This method of manipulating other individuals into providing alloparental care for the brood parasite is found in many bird species.

In biology, "Cooperatively breeding vertebrate systems are characterized by individual ‘helpers’ that take care of young ones within the social group that are not their own offspring — a behaviour termed ‘alloparental care’." In mammals, care typically encompasses allolactation, pup-feeding, babysitting and carrying young." An example of is when male Barbary macaques carry around unrelated infants and care for them for hours at a time. Another example is when warthog sows suckle piglets from other litters after the sows have lost their own litters. In some fishes such as redlip blennies, males perform alloparental care.

In Humans[edit | edit source]
Human offspring are very dependent on their mothers for survival at birth and through early development. Mothers provide support for their children long after weening and can be required to support multiple dependent children simultaneously. These costs can be more than a mother can provide on her own, so human mothers have historically relied on a variety of allomothers and allocare provided by others to assist in reproduction.

One common form of alloparenting in humans is a situation in which grandparents adopt a parental role. This is sometimes named a "skipped generation household". In 1997, 8% of children in the United States lived with their grandparents, with the grandparents being the caregivers in one third of those cases.

According to Deihl, the Efé people of Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo practice alloparenting, with care for infants coming from siblings, grandparents, and older members of the community. Deihl states that where siblings are alloparents this provides adolescents experience of being a parent, and that similar practice in the United States would reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy and make teenage parents "better parent[s] when they do become parents."

See also[edit | edit source]

 * Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
 * Cooperative breeding

References[edit | edit source]
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