Abstract
Whereas in Chapter II we dealt with relationships between two partners co-operating to achieve one end, co-operation in the family is more complicated, for it involves relationships between male and female, and relationships between parents and offspring as well. Also, the ends at which the activities are aiming are really more complicated. The parents have to provide shelter and food, and they have to defend the young against predators. In all these functions, the activities must be timed and oriented. Some other tendencies which would otherwise interfere with this have to be suppressed: in many species, for instance, the young provide all the stimuli normally releasing eating in the parents. In others the parents provide all the stimuli necessary to release escape in the young. Further, there is need for reproductive isolation, or the prevention of reactions to the young, or parents, respectively, belonging to other species; for such reactions would be a loss of efficiency, and inefficiency means defeat in the struggle for existence. Further, a new element enters into the relationships between mates: defence of the brood against predators.
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© 1965 N. Tinbergen
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Tinbergen, N. (1965). Family and Group Life. In: Social Behaviour in Animals. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7686-6_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7686-6_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-412-36920-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-7686-6
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