What does it really mean to be a dad? In the animal world, fathers have long been painted as aggressive or absent. At best providers and protectors, but certainly not caregivers. And yet for every tale of a lion or chimp dad eating its own young (yikes!), there’s another creature who tells a sweeter story.

Two HUMAN dads bring us on this DADventure: Dr. Eduardo Fernandez-Duque, who has spent decades studying owl monkey dads in the forests of Argentina, and Michael Feigelson, who once worried he wasn't cut out for the softer side of parenting.

They introduce us to seahorse dads who get pregnant, poison dart frog dads who give piggyback rides to their tadpoles, Darwin frogs who swallow their eggs to keep them safe, burying beetles who build "corpse cribs," jacana birds who do all the egg-sitting, and stickleback fish who construct intricate underwater nests for their young. Along the way, we learn that nature doesn’t offer just one model of fatherhood. Alongside Mother Nature... there just might be a Father Nature, too.

Special thanks to the Van Leer Foundation for the support of this episode.

Resources on Animal fatherhood

Eduardo Duque's Owl Monkey Project: https://www.owlmonkeyproject.com/
An interview with Eduardo in Yale News
Lauren O’Connell lab – frog behaviour
Short explainer: frog parenting research
Stickleback fish parenting study (Alison Bell)
Alison Bell lab video

Human fatherhood

Talks, films & convenings

Campaigns & global perspectives

Terrestrials was created by Lulu Miller with WNYC studios. This episode was produced by Tanya Chawla, with sound design by Mira Burt-Wintonick. Sarah Sandbach is our Executive Producer. Our team also includes Ana González, Alan Goffinski, Natalia Ramirez, and Joe Plourde. Fact checking by Angely Mercado.

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The DADventure: Wild Animal Dads from Owl Monkeys to Seahorses

Terrestrials

The DADventure: Wild Animal Dads from Owl Monkeys to Seahorses