Infanticide among animals: A review, classification, and examination of the implications for the reproductive strategies of females

摘要: Abstract Infanticide among animals is a widespread phenomenon with no unitary explanation. Although the detrimental outcome for infant fairly constant, individuals responsible infanticide may or not benefit, and when they gain in fitness there be considerable variation how gain. Sources of increased from include: (1) exploitation as resource, (2) elimination competitor resources, (3) maternal survival lifetime reproductive success either mother father by an ill-timed, handicapped, supernumerary infant, and, finally, (4) access one sex investment other at expense same-sex competitors. Predicted attributes perpetrators (such degree relatedness to infant), victim (i.e., age vulnerability), well schedule gain, vary each class. Under some circumstances, commit which does result any prospect gain; such instances are considered nonadaptive “pathological.” In those cases where on average increase fitness, selection pressures favoring it have arisen extensive time-consuming involved production young, extreme vulnerability that characterizes infancy many animals. The scattered but nevertheless occurrence primates raises question inter-specific variation. Factors seasonality breeding, cooperation between defense infants, marginal habitats, low intrinsic rates natural outweigh pressures, short male tenure lengths, select infanticide. Within same species, occur areas others, evidenced variable expression infanticidal behavior Hanuman langurs. At present, most obvious factor influencing facultative trait population density. Where occurs, sexually selected significant cause mortality. As such, has important implications evolution behavior, particularly patterns association males females, female physiology, patterning sexual receptivity females. It hypothesized threat posed several selecting shift higher away strictly cyclical estrous towards socially determined situation-dependent receptivity.