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Glite Dictionary
alloparental

alloparental

1 9.9
Care given to young by adults who are not their parents
  • adjective
  • /ˌæloʊpəˈrɛntəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : aloparental
  • Alloparental care and provisioning set the stage for children to grow up slowly and remain dependent on others for many years, paving the way for the evolution of anatomically modern people with even bigger brains.
  • alloparental provisioning

Examples

  • No infant is more costly than a human one, and a growing body of evidence from traditional societies makes clear that wherever rates of child mortality were high, children with alloparental provisioning were more likely to survive.

    Academic text (2009)

  • But only among marmosets and tamarins, members of the family Callitrichidae, do we find shared infant care combined with extensive alloparental provisioning, such as we also see in humans.

    Academic text (2009)

  • In many primate societies, individuals often engage in alloparental care, helping to raise offspring that are not their own.

  • Birds frequently exhibit alloparental behavior, where non-parent birds assist in feeding and protecting the chicks.

  • Research shows that alloparental care can significantly enhance the survival rates of young animals in the group.

Synonyms

nonparental
vsalloparental
7.2

Given by someone who is not the child's parent

is about care or behavior toward young given by other adults

Surface Forms

alloparental positive

Morphology

alloparental = parental (semi-transparent) = allo + parent + al

The prefix 'allo-' (meaning 'other') is a specialized combining form common in scientific terms and may be unfamiliar to average learners, so the relation to 'parental' is not fully transparent.

Etymology

The word alloparental combines the Greek part allo- meaning 'other' and the familiar word parental from 'parent'. So, alloparental describes care given to young by 'other' adults, not their own parents.