Comments on: Baby Cries Cause Concern For Mothers Of Other Species https://gregladen.com/blog/2014/09/20/baby-cries-cause-concern-for-mothers-of-other-species/ Tue, 23 Sep 2014 19:41:29 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 By: Louise Doughty https://gregladen.com/blog/2014/09/20/baby-cries-cause-concern-for-mothers-of-other-species/#comment-482233 Tue, 23 Sep 2014 19:41:29 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=20367#comment-482233 I live in sheep country and can find the cries of lambs distressing so I’m not surprised by this at all

]]> By: anonymous https://gregladen.com/blog/2014/09/20/baby-cries-cause-concern-for-mothers-of-other-species/#comment-482232 Mon, 22 Sep 2014 20:19:01 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=20367#comment-482232 Probably those were lionesses in that case? It seems like females respond more than males, but not necessarily only if they are mothers. Hearing a cat crying anywhere within half a block can make me come running in case I can serve … I mean help. I don’t have kids.

]]> By: Doug Alder https://gregladen.com/blog/2014/09/20/baby-cries-cause-concern-for-mothers-of-other-species/#comment-482231 Mon, 22 Sep 2014 15:49:07 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=20367#comment-482231 That lends a bit of credence to all the stories of wild animals protecting the young of other species. There was a case last year in Ethiopia of 3 lions protecting a 12 year old girl who had been abducted and beaten by a group of men. Presumably the lions heard her crying and thought she was a baby. It’s said they chased off her abductors and protected her for 3 days until she was rescued.

]]> By: daedalus2u https://gregladen.com/blog/2014/09/20/baby-cries-cause-concern-for-mothers-of-other-species/#comment-482230 Sun, 21 Sep 2014 14:37:14 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=20367#comment-482230 There is probably a difference between herbivores and carnivores.

Maternal care has existed as long as mammals have. The characteristic of mammals is the mammary gland which is to produce milk to sustain young. All mammals have to exhibit maternal bonding, even mammals that are non-social (like bears).

Maternal care is the archetypal social behavior (in mammals). Pair bonding in female mammals recapitulates parturition and is mediated through oxytocin. Pair bonding in males recapitulates territoriality and is mediated through vasopressin.

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2014/09/20/baby-cries-cause-concern-for-mothers-of-other-species/#comment-482229 Sun, 21 Sep 2014 10:13:48 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=20367#comment-482229 Birds are very important vis a vis parental care, and far more evolved than mammals. Ie, not as easily confused about who their offspring are.

]]> By: Charles Sullivan https://gregladen.com/blog/2014/09/20/baby-cries-cause-concern-for-mothers-of-other-species/#comment-482228 Sun, 21 Sep 2014 10:08:44 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=20367#comment-482228 If empathy begins with maternal care, as Frans de Waal suggests, and if maternal care has existed as long as there have been mammals, more or less, then it seems a reasonable hypothesis that most females would respond to their own young. But responding to the cries of other mammals is fascinating.

I sometimes think that birds get overlooked in the whole empathy, care-for-young analysis. Birds are born dependent on adult(s) just like mammals are. As mammals I imagine it’s easier to relate to mammalian behavior than avian behavior.

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