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| Cooperative Interactions - Mating and Parental Care |
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| In Cooperative interactions, the members of the same species interact and increase the chances of survival of one another. Such interactions are essential for reproduction and continuation of species. |
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| Some of these indespensable interactions are: |
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| 1) Mating |
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| It is the most fundamental and universally seen interaction in sexually dimorphic organisms. |
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| Mating is the precopulatory sexual behaviour of two sexes of same species towards each other, which includes courtship, during copulation. Courtship includes mating calls, nest building, dancing and singing etc. |
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| It is commonly seen in birds and mammals. |
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| For example: |
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| i) Courtship dancing behaviour of Peacock. |
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| ii) Nesting and dancing behaviour in male Stickleback. |
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| iii) Mutual tactile stimulation in Uromastrix. |
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| iv) Croaking in frog. |
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| v) Whistling sound in Cicado. |
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| This cooperative interaction increases the chances of copulation and sexual reproduction. |
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| 2) Parental care |
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| It is the cooperative intraspecific interaction in which the parents look after their eggs or young ones, in the state of their helplessness, to increase their chances of survival. |
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| However, care of the offsprings as parental behaviour is seen in some animals only. |
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| Significance of parental care |
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| a) Increases the chances of survival of young ones. |
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| b) Parents transfer their knowledge to young ones. |
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| Care of eggs |
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| a) Some parents (usually the females) carry the eggs in/on their body, till they hatch. |
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| Examples: Female Cyclops (water flea) carries the eggs in the ovisacs. |
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 Female dusky salamander (Desmognathous) carries its egg cluster wrapped around the neck. |
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| Sometimes even males are also employed for the purpose of parental care. |
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 Male mid wife toad (Alytes) carries the eggs on its thigh (hind limbs) |
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 Male Hippocampus (sea horse) carries the eggs in a brood pouch on its ventral abdominal wall. |
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| b) Animals such as earthworms, cockroach etc. lay their eggs in a protective eggs case or Ootheca, which is deposited at some well protected place. |
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| c) Almost all birds incubate their eggs to provide proper temperature for development. (Usually its the female, which does incubation, while in few such as Ostrich, even the male does incubation). |
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| d) An interesting mode of parental care is exhibited by the Cuckoo bird. The Cuckoo lay the eggs in the nest of crow, and the crow acts as a foster mother and incubates the cuckoo eggs. |
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| e) Many build special nests for the eggs and also store food for the Larvae coming out, as seen in Dauber wasp. The female Dauber wasp stores paralyzed spiders in the nest for the hatchlings to feed upon. |
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| a) In honey bees (Apis indica) larvae are fed by the workers and the development depends on nature of food provided to the larvae. |
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| b) In birds like sparrow, weaver bird, pigeon etc. the hatchlings are naked, blind and need more parental care. Such young ones are called altricial or nidicolous. |
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| In some birds like fowl, the young ones are independent, feathered and need less care from parents. Such young ones are called precoccial or nidifugous |
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| c) Mother duck- bill platypus holds the young to her abdomen with its tail while feeding. |
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| d) Mammals like rats, rabbits, cats, dogs also show parental care. |
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| e) Parental care is well pronounced in Kangaroo, where the female protects and nourishes the helpless young in her abdominal pouch called marsupium. |
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| Marsupium is found also in Surinam toad (Pipa pipa) and Marsupial frog. |
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| f) Female scorpion carries the young ones on the back for about a week. |
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| g) Parental care is maximum and most elaborate in the primates, especially human beings. |
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