TOP 10 ANIMAL DADS “Female animals do most of the birthing, nurturing and care and feeding of young in the animal kingdom. But there are a few special animal fathers that fulfill their parenting roles in extraordinarily unique ways.” When we stumbled upon that quote by Ginette Hemley, WWF vice-president for species conservation, while flicking through the papers here in FQ Towers, we raised a collective eyebrow. For we could smell a top ten dads in there somewhere. And lo, our instincts were correct! 1. PRAYING MANTIS It is well known that these leaf-like critters make the ultimate sacrifice for their unborn children by allowing their partners to behead and eat them during copulation, but the reason behind this cannibalistic coupling is unclear. Some zoologists have it that the female gets a necessary nutritional boost by devouring her lover’s head, others claim that it’s done to prevent the male from withdrawing prematurely, while yet another school of thought believes that it’s an evolutionary trigger for ejaculation. Whatever the truth, it’s a bit harsh and these guys deserve the number one spot. Poor buggers. VERDICT: WORTHY 2. SEAHORSE Though admirably evolved, male seahorses are even more sexually ambiguous than a mid-op Bangkok ladyboy The female deposits the egg into a pouch in the male’s stomach, which he then fertilises. But not content with that, his body will develop a placental relationship with the embryo and deliver food to it while removing waste. VERDICT: SPOOKY 3. SOUTH AMERICAN MARMOSET Probably the most involved father of all mammals, the marmoset will begincaring for his twin kids after two weeks and will carry, feed, and groom them until they’re fully developed. That said, he will find time to knock up the mum again, usually within four weeks of labour. VERDICT: INSPIRATIONAL 4. GIANT WATER BUG Male parenting is virtually unknown in insects, but the giant water bug steps up to the plate. His partner will cement as many as 150 eggs to his back (before doing a runner, naturally) and then it’s up to him to carry the heavy cargo for the next month. After three weeks, the eggs will have tripled in size and the male will stop eating altogether, so as to avoid accidentally eating his new offspring. VERDICT: NOBLE 5. SPOTTED SANDPIPERS Frankly, the male spotted sandpiper has a nightmare of a time. The female is aggressive and bullying during courtship and then as soon as she’s given birth, she’ll bugger off and hook up with another sandpiper dude. Meanwhile, matey boy will find himself sitting on the eggs for 21 days and then tending to the fledglings for another 21 days after that. VERDICT: VICTIM 6. HARDHEAD CATFISH Hardheaded by name and by nature, these male catfish refuse to eat during their offspring’s entire 60 day gestation period – mainly because he’ll be carrying them in his mouth. The species, which swim the Atlantic waters from Cape Cod to Mexico, carry around 48 marble-sized eggs for the entire journey – a process known as mouth brooding. VERDICT: AS NAILS 7. MARSUPIAL FROG Also known as the Hip Pocket Frog, the females lay up to 20 eggs at a time, but that’s where her maternal responsibilities end. For once she’s pumped out her little clutch of miracles, she literally hops it and dad has to take over. He’ll wait until the eggs hatch into tiny tadpoles before encouraging them to wriggle up his back into two pouches in his hip flesh. A couple of weeks later they’ll pop out as fully-formed frogs. VERDICT: HONOURABLE 8. KILLDEER Though the female of this species of North American bird will do the bulk of the childcare, when a predator takes an interest in the nest, the male will spring to action. By pretending to be injured. He’ll pose as easy prey by dragging a ‘broken’ wing along the ground and then taking flight when he catches the predator’s eye – giving his family a chance to do a runner. VERDICT: INGENIOUS 9. PANAMANIAN POISON-ARROW FROG Paternal care in amphibians is extremely rare, but the one exception is found in a family of killer frogs. The male Panamanian poison-arrow frog is responsible for sitting on the eggs and keeping them hydrated with moisture from his skin. He also bears the job of carrying the newly-hatched tadpoles to water on his back. VERDICT: CONFUSED 10. EMPEROR PENGUIN Having bulked up prior to the breeding season, the male emperor penguin will assume responsibility for incubating his partner’s eggs as soon as they’re laid and will stay put during Antarctica’s extreme winter until they’re hatched (around two months later). He’ll lose half his bodyweight in the process. She, however, will be off fishing. Alright for some! VERDICT: SELFLESS