Parent and child

Abstract

All young mammals are fed on milk secreted by the mammary glands. This feeding process involves special behaviour on the part of both mother and offspring: the young must be able to locate the milk supply and to suck once they have found it, while the mother must behave in such a way as to facilitate their doing so. Maternal care, however, usually goes much further than the mere provision of the infant’s first food. Commonly the mother not only feeds her young but protects them, cleans them and keeps them warm and in some cases she plays an active part in their first introduction to eating solid food. Frequently the care of the young is the responsibility of the female alone but in some species the male also has a role to play. Responses of parent and young must be adjusted to each other and it is therefore not desirable to discuss maternal or parental behaviour without at the same time dealing with the responses of the young to their parents.