alloparenting

English

Etymology

From allo- +‎ parenting.

Noun

alloparenting (uncountable)

1. (ethology) Parental behaviour towards infants and young from non-parents.
   • 1992, Richard A. Posner, Sex and Reason, Paperback edition, Harvard University Press, published 1994, page 407:

     Some alloparenting relationships among animals resemble adoption, although more resemble foster care or wet-nursing.

   • 1997, C. Sue Carter, R. Lucille Roberts, “9: The Psychobiological Basis of Cooperative Breeding in Rodents”, in Nancy G. Solomon, Jeffrey A. French, editors, Cooperative Breeding in Mammals, Cambridge University Press, published 2007, page 256:

     The behaviors associated with alloparenting are phenotypically similar to maternal and paternal care.

   • 2016, Abigail A. Marsh, “9: Extraordinary Altruism: A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective”, in Joshua David Greene, India Morrison, Martin E. P. Seligman, editors, Positive Neuroscience, Oxford University Press, page 150:

     Characteristics of species in which alloparenting occurs include organization into small, close-knit, and cooperative groups and infants being born relatively helpless and dependent on care from adults.

Related terms

• alloparent
• alloparental

See also

• allomaternal
• allopaternal

Further reading

• Altruism (biology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Cooperative breeding on Wikipedia.Wikipedia