It is generally taught that nuclear families are the best for raising children in North America. The U.S. government supports the nuclear family structure by giving benefits to parents that have children. Through media and pop culture, animals are often depicted as having nuclear families when the actual parenting strategies are much different. Even in educational institutions, such as museums, animals are sometimes arranged in such ways that suggest the animals behave similar to humans. Additionally, other human stereotypes are applied to animals and vice versa.These stereotypes portray animal mothers as being single parents, raising the children on her own while the male tries to father as many offspring as possible. The truth is that throughout the animal kingdom, there are many different types of parenting and mating strategies. Here, we can find animals that differ from their depictions in pop culture previously shown, and some animals that fit the stereotype of single mothering. Please note that not all species within a taxonomic group are similar.
Lions
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Most of us know the tale of the young lion, Simba, who loses his father and must save his pride from his uncle, Scar. In Disney's "The Lion King" we see a young cub with his mother and father, each of them giving equal time and investment in his upbringing. Simba's mother is one of the only lionesses focused on, and the overall picture derived from the film is that Simba's parents were monogamous. Even a cub from the same pride is from a different lion because she's considered Simba's "cousin," when in the real world she would probably be a half-sibling. The lions in the film portray a nuclear family that would not normally exist in the wild.
Lions in the wild live in prides most often composed of a one to three males and several females. The size ranges from 25-35 individuals, but can be smaller. In each pride, the male's main goals are to sire as many cubs as possible and protect the pride from other male lions. If another male lion fends off the top male, he will then kill all the cubs in order to make the females ovulate sooner. "The Lion King" very rarely shows the large female group ruled by a male and when the group is shown, it is only after the main male lion dies.At the beginning, the relationship between Simba's parents is very intimate and Simba's dad says that Simba will rule the pride. In the real world, young male lions leave the pride after they've grown or fight their father for it.
Lions also are a species that follows the stereotype of the mother who raises the kids without help from the male. Female lions are responsible for the care and feeding of the entire pride, including the cubs. Males will interact with cubs, but his involvement is not essential in the development of the cubs.
Lions in the wild live in prides most often composed of a one to three males and several females. The size ranges from 25-35 individuals, but can be smaller. In each pride, the male's main goals are to sire as many cubs as possible and protect the pride from other male lions. If another male lion fends off the top male, he will then kill all the cubs in order to make the females ovulate sooner. "The Lion King" very rarely shows the large female group ruled by a male and when the group is shown, it is only after the main male lion dies.At the beginning, the relationship between Simba's parents is very intimate and Simba's dad says that Simba will rule the pride. In the real world, young male lions leave the pride after they've grown or fight their father for it.
Lions also are a species that follows the stereotype of the mother who raises the kids without help from the male. Female lions are responsible for the care and feeding of the entire pride, including the cubs. Males will interact with cubs, but his involvement is not essential in the development of the cubs.
Domestic Dogs
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Domestic dogs are known for their companionship. In "101 Dalmatians" Pongo and Perdita, the two parents of the puppies, are seen forming a lasting pair bond and taking care of their pups. In the real world, domestic dogs do not normally form pair bonds. Most males will mate with several females and leave the care of the pups to the mother. Their ancestors, wolves, actually do form pair bonds that last for life, but through selective breeding the domestic dog has lost its need to form a bond.
Because of the high degree of selected breeding, domestic dogs often follow the stereotype of a single mother. The father leaves as soon his job is done, or he is taken away because he simply was a stud dog. The mother dog is left with the job of taking care of the puppies. Sometimes, these mothers aren't even that great of moms! If left to their own devices, dogs that become feral sometimes revert to ancestral behaviors. Check out this page on our website that shows the behavior of wolves!
Because of the high degree of selected breeding, domestic dogs often follow the stereotype of a single mother. The father leaves as soon his job is done, or he is taken away because he simply was a stud dog. The mother dog is left with the job of taking care of the puppies. Sometimes, these mothers aren't even that great of moms! If left to their own devices, dogs that become feral sometimes revert to ancestral behaviors. Check out this page on our website that shows the behavior of wolves!
Bears
Image via http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/bear/
Bear mothers are notorious for being extremely protective of their cubs. She gives birth to them during her hibernation period. The male does not care for the cubs at all, and may even eat them if he can catch one without too much trouble from the mother. Because of their ferocious protective behaviors, humans have attached the term "momma bear" to human mothers that are extremely protective of their kids.
Little Bear is a popular children's show that depicts a nuclear family of bears. They all stick together in a small family, the father and mother both providing care. If we were to compare their family to bear family in the wild, we would obviously see marked differences.
It should be noted that not all bears exhibit the same behaviors. Check out this page to see mother bears that are horrible at their jobs!
Little Bear is a popular children's show that depicts a nuclear family of bears. They all stick together in a small family, the father and mother both providing care. If we were to compare their family to bear family in the wild, we would obviously see marked differences.
It should be noted that not all bears exhibit the same behaviors. Check out this page to see mother bears that are horrible at their jobs!
Aardvarks
Image via National Geographic
Aardvarks are pretty weird looking creatures. They have long noses, rabbit ears, and really big claws. They use their specialized structures to detect and eat ants and termites. They often rip apart termite mounds with their claws, lapping up ants with their long and sticky tongue.
What isn't weird about them is their parenting behavior. After a longer gestation, the mother gives birth to a single baby. The mother stays with her hairless cub for up to six months, providing the cub everything it needs. Dad is pretty much absent, living in his own burrow and trying to get all the ladies. Isn't it weird that the aardvarks don't really look like their TV counterparts?
What isn't weird about them is their parenting behavior. After a longer gestation, the mother gives birth to a single baby. The mother stays with her hairless cub for up to six months, providing the cub everything it needs. Dad is pretty much absent, living in his own burrow and trying to get all the ladies. Isn't it weird that the aardvarks don't really look like their TV counterparts?
Turtles and Tortoises
Image via National Geographic
Turtles are amazing creatures, living in several different habitats and having unique body structures, making them a pretty recognizable creature. Turtles are split into different groups because they exist in so many environments. There are the land dwelling tortoises, the water dwelling turtle, and the amphibious terrapin.
Green sea turtles, like the one above, are iconic for their kind. They are an endangered species, causing the reproductive events of green sea turtles to be quite exciting because every new turtle is seen as a triumph. Turtles are egg layers, depositing their eggs in carefully chosen areas to ensure the babies can hatch. Green sea turtles are particularly popular for their egg laying because they crawl up onto the beach and dig a huge hole for their eggs, which can number in the hundreds. The whole process may take several hours and sometimes the hard work isn't even worth it because a large portion of the baby turtles won't survive. The mothering stops at the laying of the eggs and creation of the nest. The father doesn't even know he's a father! He gives absolutely no help to the female, like most dads on this list.
In popular culture there are a few instances of turtles being shown as different from their wild cousins. Franklin, a popular child's cartoon, was the story of a young turtle's family, which consisted of a mother, father, and, of course, Franklin himself. Additionally, in a popular scene in a more recent film, Finding Nemo, the main character runs into a group of sea turtles, who are portrayed as having nuclear family structure when they interact with their offspring. I bet you've seen the movie, but here's a link to the iconic scene with Squirt and his dad, Crush.
Green sea turtles, like the one above, are iconic for their kind. They are an endangered species, causing the reproductive events of green sea turtles to be quite exciting because every new turtle is seen as a triumph. Turtles are egg layers, depositing their eggs in carefully chosen areas to ensure the babies can hatch. Green sea turtles are particularly popular for their egg laying because they crawl up onto the beach and dig a huge hole for their eggs, which can number in the hundreds. The whole process may take several hours and sometimes the hard work isn't even worth it because a large portion of the baby turtles won't survive. The mothering stops at the laying of the eggs and creation of the nest. The father doesn't even know he's a father! He gives absolutely no help to the female, like most dads on this list.
In popular culture there are a few instances of turtles being shown as different from their wild cousins. Franklin, a popular child's cartoon, was the story of a young turtle's family, which consisted of a mother, father, and, of course, Franklin himself. Additionally, in a popular scene in a more recent film, Finding Nemo, the main character runs into a group of sea turtles, who are portrayed as having nuclear family structure when they interact with their offspring. I bet you've seen the movie, but here's a link to the iconic scene with Squirt and his dad, Crush.
Alligators
Image via http://cclockwood.com
Alligators are pretty unique in the reptile world. They are living dinosaurs, a peek into what the world was like without humans. They haven't changed much over millions of years; they are fearsome predators that are known for their size and temper.
What's odd about these animals is that the mother alligator, unlike most reptiles, takes excellent care of her brood. First, because the sex of the babies depends on what temperature they were incubated at, the mother alligator carefully constructs a nest for her eggs, going to great lengths to ensure that the eggs will incubate at a certain temperature. Then she guards her nest from predators and other alligators that might smash her babies. After the eggs begin to hatch, she helps them get out of their shells and into nearby water by carrying her babies in her mouth. The mother alligator protects her young for a year or more before the babies are on their own. For being cold-blooded, these mommas sure are warm hearted.
What's odd about these animals is that the mother alligator, unlike most reptiles, takes excellent care of her brood. First, because the sex of the babies depends on what temperature they were incubated at, the mother alligator carefully constructs a nest for her eggs, going to great lengths to ensure that the eggs will incubate at a certain temperature. Then she guards her nest from predators and other alligators that might smash her babies. After the eggs begin to hatch, she helps them get out of their shells and into nearby water by carrying her babies in her mouth. The mother alligator protects her young for a year or more before the babies are on their own. For being cold-blooded, these mommas sure are warm hearted.
Wolf Spiders
Image via Critterzone.com
What animals have eight legs, eight eyes, and are known for being bad parents? Spiders! These creepy crawlers are not what you want to see in your room. Most spider moms and dads abandon their babies in spider silk sacs that they hang in hidden crannies. Sometimes the parents will even eat the babies if they don't get away fast enough. Arthropods are pretty well known for being bad parents in general because a lot of insects just leave their babies behind.
Not so in the mother wolf spider! Taking care of her spiderlings is a labor of love. The mother painstakingly constructs an egg sac for all her eggs and carries it around on her underside. When the babies hatch, the mother spider helps the babies escape by ripping an opening in the sac. The babies then crawl onto their mother's abdomen, and are transported everywhere. The babies number in the hundreds, so it's a real job for the mother to carry her entire brood. She even stops when a baby falls off, making sure that it has returned to its place before moving off. For being pretty creepy, this mom sure makes a lot of mammal moms look bad.
Not so in the mother wolf spider! Taking care of her spiderlings is a labor of love. The mother painstakingly constructs an egg sac for all her eggs and carries it around on her underside. When the babies hatch, the mother spider helps the babies escape by ripping an opening in the sac. The babies then crawl onto their mother's abdomen, and are transported everywhere. The babies number in the hundreds, so it's a real job for the mother to carry her entire brood. She even stops when a baby falls off, making sure that it has returned to its place before moving off. For being pretty creepy, this mom sure makes a lot of mammal moms look bad.
Octopus
Image via National Geographic
Animals in the sea are a mixed bag when it comes to parenting. Fish and other sea creatures had a wide range of reproductive and parenting behaviors. Some fish just lay eggs and leave. Sometimes both of the parents stay and take care of the eggs. A lot of male fish are actually pretty good dads because they stick around while the mother goes elsewhere. There's not really a good stereotype for fish because a lot of them are extremely different from each other. In addition to that, fish haven't been been researched well because there haven't been a large number of underwater exploring missions.
Octopuses are pretty mysterious creatures. Unlike other sea creatures, octopuses, besides being the object of grammar arguments, are really good mothers. After the male does his part, he swims off to die a few months later, while the female stores his sperm that she will use to fertilize her eggs. Several months later, the female finds a cave and lays thousands of eggs, some species laying over 100,000! This process takes ages. Once the mom has laid all her eggs, strung them together, and stuck them on the ceiling, she protects them for months, starving herself. After several months, the babies hatch. At this point, if the mother hasn't died from starvation, she protects her babies until she does. This super mom just might be one of the best moms on earth!
Octopuses are pretty mysterious creatures. Unlike other sea creatures, octopuses, besides being the object of grammar arguments, are really good mothers. After the male does his part, he swims off to die a few months later, while the female stores his sperm that she will use to fertilize her eggs. Several months later, the female finds a cave and lays thousands of eggs, some species laying over 100,000! This process takes ages. Once the mom has laid all her eggs, strung them together, and stuck them on the ceiling, she protects them for months, starving herself. After several months, the babies hatch. At this point, if the mother hasn't died from starvation, she protects her babies until she does. This super mom just might be one of the best moms on earth!
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