In this case, bat-eared moms have a taste for termites.
"Bat-eared foxes probably differ from (the parenting norm) because their termite prey can't be carried back to the den by males, which don't regurgitate, but can only be done so by females in the form of milk," explained Harry William Yorkstone Wright, who authored the study.
Wright, a research fellow in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Warwick, England, added, "Termites take a long time for lactating females to gather, so males play an important role as guards and later, when cubs start to take solid food, which they do at a young age, as chaperones of foraging cubs."
Wright observed bat-eared fox families in and around their underground dens in Laikipia, Central Kenya. While mothers were out foraging, fathers mostly stayed in the dens with cubs. There, the fox fathers huddled with their young to keep them warm. They also spent time grooming cubs to help remove parasites.
The fox dads would also make short trips to obtain snacks, such large insects or small birds and rodents, for the cubs. They carried cubs from one den location to another. Fathers even fearlessly defended their young.
In two instances, black-backed jackals and a wildcat tried to raid dens, but the fox dads snarled, attacked and succeeded in chasing the intruders away.
Wright then calculated survival rates for all observed cubs. He determined that paternal den attendance was the best predictor of both the number and proportion of cubs surviving to weaning age, which occurs between three and four weeks.
The findings were recently published in the journal
Animal Behavior.
The arrangement does not favor polygamy, which is fairly common among other mammals, so male parental care importance could be linked to monogamy.
Wright told Animal Planet News, "I suggest that male care may make social monogamy advantageous for males because, given the strength of the relationship between paternal den attendance and offspring survival, males that attempted to simultaneously divide care between the litters of two females may well rear fewer offspring than those that devoted all their care to one litter."
Carmi Penny, San Diego Zoo's curator of mammals, told Animal Planet News: "The observations underscore, support and tend to enlighten the reader relative to why and how social monogamy works in this species. There is a strong link between the reproductive success of socially monogamous species and factors in the environment/diet."
Name: common (
species)
Primary Classification: class (common)
Location: Sub-Saharan Africa
Habitat: Savanna and scrub forest.
Diet: Mainly insects, especially termites, and arthropods, such as scorpions and spiders. Also small mammals, reptiles, eggs, birds and plant matter.
Size: From 1.5 to 2.2 ft in length and 6.5 to 11.5 lbs in weight.
Description: Silver-gray coat; black face mask; black stripe on back; large, wide ears; short, narrow mouth; long, jackal-like legs; bushy, black-tipped tail
Cool Facts: It has more teeth than almost any other mammal — between 46 and 50. Its hearing is so sharp that it can detect insects moving underground. It is immune to scorpion venom and will eat the animal whole with no ill effects.
Conservation Status: Common
