Male poison frogs become cannibals after taking over territories
(University of Veterinary Medicine -- Vienna) Systematic 'infanticide' of unrelated young occurs in several animal species. For carnivores and primates, infanticidal actions are mainly sexually motivated. A study in Scientific Reports by researchers of Vetmeduni Vienna has shown for the first time that also male poison frogs selectively eat other males' offspring -- after having taken over their rivals' territories. They were thus able to demonstrate that even simple decision rules can mediate a complex behavioral pattern such as parental care.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news