AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Parental care can be defined as any non-genetic contribution by a parent that increases the fitness of offspring, and can occur before or after laying or birth (Stahlschmidt and DeNardo, 2011). From: Encyclopedia of Reproduction (Second Edition), 2018.

Detailed explanation-2: -One well-known example of paternal care is in seahorses, where males brood the eggs in a brood pouch until they are ready to hatch. Males from the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family exhibit paternal parental care of their eggs and fry through a variety of behaviors such as nest guarding and nest fanning (aerating eggs).

Detailed explanation-3: -Parents and caregivers offer their children love, acceptance, appreciation, encouragement, and guidance. They provide the most intimate context for the nurturing and protection of children as they develop their personalities and identities and also as they mature physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially.

Detailed explanation-4: -In animals that provide parental care, females are generally the ones that primarily bear the costs. They spend time laying eggs, creating egg cases, guarding eggs or larvae, building nests, incubating and brooding young, carrying young (gestation), nursing (lactation), and subsequently feeding and defending offspring.