Family breakup dynamics in mammals can be complex due to competing interests between parents and offspring. Parents need to balance their own as well as their offspring's fitness through either terminating care early or extending care. Yet, males can disrupt this trade-off as they may force females to …

Climate change is a major threat for the Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). A lot of research has been done on the possible effects, but a clear overview is still lacking. This literature review aims to provide an overview of the effects of climate change on the nesting success, sex ratio and …

The global population of cheetahs is declining, which is a threat to the health of their ecosystems and biodiversity. Cheetahs are listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List, but some conservation scientists want them to be up listed from to ‘Endangered’. The decline in cheetah populations is a result …

Parasitoids lay their eggs in or on a host, usually another insect. During foraging, parasitoids can encounter insects that differ in terms of host suitability and quality. At one extreme end of this spectrum are non-hosts that are unsuitable for offspring development.Non-hosts are generally ignored …

Communal breeding, wherein multiple conspecifics live and reproduce together, may generate short-term benefits in terms of defence and reproduction. However, its carry-over effects remain unclear. We experimentally tested the effects of communal breeding on parental care and reproduction in burying beetles …

Climate change and global warming have a big impact on many animals that live on earth. Ice caps are melting, making polar habitats disappear, but the temperature rise has impact on other continents and oceans as well. Reptiles, which are ectothermic, are strongly affected by warmer environments since …

Background: Growing evidence suggests that maternal mental health issues are associated with (young) children’s weight outcomes. However, most studies have been limited by cross-sectional designs and have been aimed at (younger) children. The current prospective study focuses on the link between maternal …

Background: Research in maternity care is often conducted in mixed low and high-risk or solely high-risk populations. This limits generalizability to the low-risk population of pregnant women receiving care from Dutch midwives. To address this limitation, 24 midwifery practices in the Netherlands bring …

The waldrapp ibis (Geronticus eremita) is a colonial and monogamous bird species, which is classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Due to the rapid decline of wild waldrapp ibises a European Endangered species Programme (EEP) has been set up as …

Unhealthy gestational weight gain (GWG) contributes to long-term obesity in women and their offspring. The aim of this study is to quantify midwives’ behavior in promoting healthy GWG and to identify the most important determinants related to this behavior.