{"product_id":"a-natural-history-of-families-9780691130354","title":"A Natural History of Families","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy do baby sharks, hyenas, and pelicans kill their siblings? Why do beetles and mice commit infanticide? Why are twins and birth defects more common in older human mothers? This book examines what behavioral ecologists have discovered about family dynamics and what these insights might tell us about human biology and behavior.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2005 \"Forbes's writing is lively... He explains evolutionary theory lucidly and well... Forbes is good at explaining the subtlety and frequent counter-intuitiveness of current thinking on these topics.\"--Seamus Sweeney, Times Literary Supplement \"This absorbing read is an entertaining but sober addition to the library of anyone who is interested in family conflict and the natural world.\"--Biology Digest \"All will welcome [this book] as an interesting, well-researched, extraordinarily well-written, and occasionally humorous work in behavioral ecology.\"--Choice \"This is certainly worth reading if this is an area that you are interested in. Forbes obviously knows his subject.\"--Nicola Vollenhoven, Biologist \"I found much of the medical material new. A Natural History of Families is recommended to anyone interested in evolutionary medicine, wanting a better understanding of pregnancy, or after a genetic perspective on family conflicts.\"--Danny Yee, Danny Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePreface xi      Chapter 1: Blame Parents 1  Do the Good Die Young? 3  The Family Myth 5      Chapter 2: The Optimistic Parent 9  The Evolution of Family Size 9  The Puzzle of Obligate Brood Reduction 10  How Many Babies? 11  Avian Families 16  Core and Marginal Offspring 16  Asymmetric Sibling Rivalr Creates Disposable Offspring 18  The Evolution of Family Structure 19  What Is Parental Optimism? 21  Why Parental Optimism? 23  Tracking Erratic Resources 23  Replacement 27  Facilitation 28  Multiple Incentives for Parental Optimism 29  Are Humans Optimistic Parents? 31      Chapter 3: Why Parents Play Favorites 32  Mom Always Liked You Best 32  The Fivefold Advantage of Favoritism 33  1. The Benefits and Costs of Unequal Parental Investment 34  2. Divestment of Unneeded Offspring 36  3. Benefits of Diversification 39  4. Correcting Earlier Decisions 41  5. Bet Hedging and Brood Reduction 41      Chapter 4: How Parents Play Favorites 43  What Is a Phenotypic Handicap? 43  How Birds Play Favorites 44  Primar Versus Secondar Handicaps 44  How Blackbirds Play Favorites 45  Reversible Handicaps 46  How Marsupials Play Favorites 47  Brood Reduction in Rabbits 49  How Plants Play Favorites 50  Different Species, Same Idea 51  Humans Play Favorites Too 52  Birth Order and Favoritism 53      Chapter 5: Family Conflict 55  Genetic Conflict between Parents and Offspring 55  Parent-Offspring Conflict 57  Pregnancy and Parent-Offspring Conflict 58  Natural-Born Cancers 60  Imprinted Genes in Humans 62  Genetic Conflict and Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome 64  Parent-Offspring Conflict over Embryo Growth 64  Imprinting and Gestational Diabetes 65  Pregnancy Sickness and Genetic Conflict 66  HCG: The Hormone of Pregnancy Sickness? 68  Evolution of Chorionic Gonadotropins in Primates 70  Chorionic Gonadotropins and Miscarriage 70      Chapter 6: Selfishness Unconstrained 78  Brood Parasitic Birds 79  Old World Cuckoos 79  ... and New World Cowbirds 80  Cowbird Mafia? 80  Cuckoo Catfish 81  The Origins of Brood Parasitism 81  Adopting Runaways? 82  Forced Adoption of Nonkin 83  Voluntar Adoption of Nonkin 85  The Lesson of Brood Parasitism 86      Chapter 7: Screening for Offspring Quality 87  The Logic of Progeny Choice 87  Sequential versus Simultaneous Progeny Choice 88  Progeny Choice in Humans 89  Adaptive Miscarriage 90  Chromosomal Defects in Humans 91  Sex Chromosomes and Birth Defects 94  Turner's Syndrome and Genomic Imprinting 96  Birth Defects and Maternal Age 96  Rejecting Low-Quality Embryos 97  HCG and Adaptive Miscarriage 98  Relaxed Screening in Older Mothers? 100  Why Relaxed Selection? 103  Why More Spontaneous Abortions in Older Mothers? 104  The Origin of Genetic Defects 105  The Shadow of Menopause 105  Screening, Maternal Age, and the Role of Genomic Imprinting 106  Maternal Age and Twinning 108      Chapter 8: Why Twins? 109  The Evolution of Brood and Family Size 109  Fault-Tolerant Design in Humans 111  Twinning as an Insurance Strategy 112  Insurance Offspring in Birds 113  In Vitro Fertilization and Twinning 114  Age, Trisomy 21,and Twinning 117  More Than Just Polyovulation 118  Twinning and Individual Optimization 121  Fit or Fat? 124  A Womb for Two 126  Natural Selection on Twinning Frequency 126  Brood Reduction before Birth? 127      Chapter 9: Fatal Sibling Rivalry 129  Siblicide 129  Desperado Siblings Result from Extreme Favoritism 132  The Good and the Best 133  Facultative Versus Obligate Brood Reduction 135  Ultraselfish Alleles 137  Human Twins 139  \"Biological\" Influences 144      Chapter 10: Family Harmony 147  Cooperation in Families 147  The Arthur Dent Effect 148  Why Cooperation? 148  The Road to Cooperation 150  Parental Optimism and the Evolution of Cooperation 151  Polyembryony and New Roles for Marginal Offspring 152  Parasitoid Wasps 153  Adaptive Suicide? 154  The Benefits of Teamwork 156  Social Insects: The Ultimate Team Players 157  Trophic Offspring 160  Sibling Synergies in Birds and Mammals 160  Conflict When Necessary, but Not Necessarily Conflict 162  Cooperative Defense ... against Parents? 166  Facilitation in Humans? 167  Finding Their Niche: Birth Order and Human Behavior 168      Chapter 11: Cannibalism and Infanticide 171  The Pathways to Cannibalism 171  Honey, I Ate the Kids 171  Offspring Designed to be Eaten 174  The Pathways to Infanticide 175  Sexually Selected Infanticide 175  Killer Rodents 176  Infanticide in Families 178  The Unwilling Parent? 178      Chapter 12: Brave New Worlds 182  Artificial Parental Optimism and Infanticide 184  An Epidemic of Multiple Births 185  Risks of Multiple Gestation 186  The Ghost in the Machine 187  Embryo Reduction 188  Artificial Progeny Choice 189  Refining Artificial Progeny Choice 190  Does Assisted Reproduction Cause Low-Quality Progeny? 191  Send in the Clones 192  Parental Optimism and the Law of Unintended Consequences 194  Blame Parents 195      Chapter 13: Debunking the Family Myth 197      Selected References 201  Index 229","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51359108170071,"sku":"9780691130354","price":25.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780691130354.jpg?v=1754123622","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/a-natural-history-of-families-9780691130354","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}