Editing Behavioral ecology (section)

===Types of parental care===
There are many different patterns of [[Parental investment|parental care]] in the animal kingdom. The patterns can be explained by physiological constraints or ecological conditions, such as mating opportunities. In invertebrates, there is no parental care in most species because it is more favorable for parents to produce a large number of eggs whose fate is left to chance than to protect a few individual young. In other cases, parental care is indirect, manifested via actions taken before the offspring is produced, but nonetheless essential for their survival; for example, female ''[[Lasioglossum figueresi]]'' sweat bees excavate a nest, construct brood cells, and stock the cells with pollen and nectar before they lay their eggs, so when the larvae hatch they are sheltered and fed, but the females die without ever interacting with their brood.<ref name= "Wcislo2">{{cite journal | last1 = Wcislo | first1 = W. T. | last2 = Wille | first2 = A. | last3 = Orozco | first3 = E. | year = 1993 | title = Nesting biology of tropical solitary and social sweat bees, ''Lasioglossum (Dialictus) figueresi'' Wcislo and ''L. (D.) aeneiventre'' (Friese) (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) | journal = Insectes Sociaux| volume = 40 | pages = 21–40 | doi=10.1007/BF01338830| s2cid = 6867760 }}</ref> In birds, biparental care is the most common, because reproductive success directly depends on the parents' ability to feed their chicks. Two parents can feed twice as many young, so it is more favorable for birds to have both parents delivering food. In mammals, female-only care is the most common. This is most likely because females are internally fertilized and so are holding the young inside for a prolonged period of [[gestation]], which provides males with the opportunity to desert. Females also feed the young through [[lactation]] after birth, so males are not required for feeding. Male parental care is only observed in species where they contribute to feeding or carrying of the young, such as in [[marmoset]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Daly|first=M.|title=Why Don't Male Mammals Lactate?|journal=Journal of Theoretical Biology|year=1979|volume=78|pages=325–345|doi=10.1016/0022-5193(79)90334-5|pmid=513786|issue=3|bibcode=1979JThBi..78..325D}}</ref>  In fish there is no parental care in 79% of [[Osteichthyes|bony fish]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gross|first=M.R.|author2=R.C Sargent|title=The evolution of male and female parentental care in fishes|journal=American Zoologist|year=1985|volume=25|issue=3|pages=807–822|doi=10.1093/icb/25.3.807|doi-access=free}}</ref>  In fish with parental care, it usually limited to selecting, preparing, and defending a nest, as seen in [[sockeye salmon]], for example.<ref name="Female colour">{{cite journal|last=Foote|first=Chris J|author2=Brown, Gayle S |author3=Hawryshyn, Craig W |title=Female colour and male choice in sockeye salmon: implications for the phenotypic convergence of anadromous and nonanadromous morphs|journal=Animal Behaviour|date=1 January 2004 |volume=67|issue=1|pages=69–83|doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.02.004|s2cid=53169458}}</ref> Also, parental care in fish, if any, is primarily done by males, as seen in [[Goby|gobies]] and [[Ophioblennius atlanticus|redlip blennies]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Svensson|author2=Magnhagen, C.|s2cid=24806138|title=Parental behavior in relation to the occurrence of sneaking in the common goby|journal=Animal Behaviour|volume=56|pages=175–179 |doi=10.1006/anbe.1998.0769 |pmid=9710475 |issue=1|date=Jul 1998}}</ref><ref name="Clutton-Brock 1991"/>  The cichlid fish ''[[Variabilichromis moorii|V. moorii]]'' exhibits biparental care.<ref name="Sturmbauer yellow">{{cite journal|last=Sturmbauer|first=Christian|author2=Corinna Fuchs|author3=Georg Harb|author4=Elisabeth Damm |author5=Nina Duftner |author6=Michaela Maderbacher|author7=Martin Koch|author8=Stephan Koblmüller |title=Abundance, Distribution, and Territory Areas of Rock-dwelling Lake Tanganyika Cichlid Fish Species |journal=Hydrobiologia|year=2008|volume=615|issue=1 |pages=57–68 |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-9582-5_5|access-date=30 September 2013|doi=10.1007/s10750-008-9557-z|s2cid=23056207|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In species with internal fertilization, the female is usually the one to take care of the young. In cases where fertilization is external the male becomes the main caretaker.