A new study conducted on burying beetles says that older and mature males make better fathers.
Researchers at the University of Exeter conducted a study on burying beetles to analyze how males care for their young. The findings of the study revealed that older and mature burying beetle males that are unsure of future reproduction tend to invest more in both mating and caring for their young.
Through the study, researchers found that such males who are unsure about reproducing again tend to care for the young even when they're not sure if the youngster is their offspring or not. Contrarily, younger males who have high chances of reproducing again care less about their offsprings and even more so if the youngster's paternity is questionable.
However, the level of care the offspring received didn't seem to affect its performance and survival. Authors of the study noted that this could be because when care received from a father diminished, the mother took up the role of care taker and provided the necessary care.
"Our research shows that age has a direct impact on the level of parental care given by male burying beetles," Dr Megan Head from the University of Exeter said in a press release. "If their chances of reproducing again were high, we found that males had to make a trade-off between the likelihood of paternity and the level of paternal care they would give. We found that younger males who were uncertain of their paternity were likely to make the worst fathers."
The level of care was measured by the amount of time parents spent with their offspring. Burying beetles have a complex parental care system, similar to that provided by birds.
The research points to the fact that females should consider mating with mature and older males for the betterment of their offspring.
