| Biparental care has evolved multiple times throughout the animal kingdom. When both parents contribute to the care of young, parental activities can be distributed in a variety of ways. Some parents, such as humans, demonstrate a division of roles, with each sex favoring specific activities. This dissertation focuses on factors that influence how the sex-typical roles are established. Convict cichlids exhibit sex-biased role favoritism, with males focusing on offspring defense from brood predators and females providing directed care, such as the retrieval of displaced offspring. I utilized these parental behaviors to explore how predator size and proximity influenced each parent. I also explored the influence of partners on the behavior of each parent by examining single parents and observing parental pairs over successive breeding bouts, either with the same or a new partner. Overall, female parents seem to be more influenced than males by these external factors. Other external cues, such as the age of the brood, may influence male parents. These sex differences in parental care may derive from sex differences in potential mating opportunities. |
