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loaExMachina@sh.itjust.works 6 months agoThere’s that, and also their short lifespan (1 to 5 years). And the fact that the mother only cares for their offspring while they’re in eggs.
Forms of transmission of behaviors by imitation or communication mostly emerge in species that care for their young, like birds or mammals, because the young learns from their parents, which complements instinct. It gets stronger when they’re a social species, because they also learn from every other individual. That’s when culture begins to emerge (like how some “accents” or “dialects” can be identified in the songs of birds or whales of a same species). But a specie that isn’t social and doesn’t care for it’s young, whatever an individual learnt in its lifetime dies with it, behaviors can only be transmitted genetically, so they’re slower to evolve.
meekah@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I agree with the point you’re making. I’d just like to note that the mother doesn’t care for her children because she dies taking care of the eggs. The eggs get attached to a ceiling of an underwater cave, and the mother watches the eggs until she dies of starvation. It is theorized that this happens to prevent the mother from eating her children.
SolOrion@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
That is absolutely fucking metal. TIL.