Foster tadpoles trigger parental instinct in poison frogs

Poison frogs, especially male poison frogs, are very caring parents. After the tadpoles hatch, the males piggyback their offspring to distant pools spread around the rainforest where they can feed and develop. A recent study shows that this parental behavior can be triggered experimentally. When unrelated tadpoles are placed on the backs of adult frogs, male – and even female – “foster parents” make their way to pools in the forest in the same way as if they had picked up the tadpoles themselves.