Sometimes, it makes sense for critters across the animal kingdom to chow down on their own young. Thanks to http://www.audible.com/minuteearth for sponsoring this video. Thanks also to our supporters on https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth : - Maarten Bremer - Jeff Straathof - Tony Fadell - Muhammad Shifaz - Mark Roth - Melissa Vigil - Valentin - Alberto Bortoni ___________________________________________ Credits (and Twitter handles): Script Writer: Rachel (@RA_Becks) Script Editor: Alex Reich (@alexhreich) Video Illustrator: Ever Salazar (@eversalazar) Video Director: Emily Elert (@eelert) Video Narrator: Emily Elert (@eelert) With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Kate Yoshida, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder _________________________________________ Like our videos? Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd Support us on Patreon: https://goo.gl/ZVgLQZ Also, say hello on: Facebook: http://goo.gl/FpAvo6 Twitter: http://goo.gl/Y1aWVC And find us on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n ___________________________________________ FYI: We try to leave jargon out of our videos, but if you want to learn more about this topic, here are some handy keywords to get your googling started: - Filial cannibalism: is a form of infanticide that occurs when an adult individual of a species consumes all or part of the young of its own species or immediate offspring. Species featured in this video: - Hamsters (Cricetinae family) - Assassin bug (Rhinocoris tristis) - Red Tailed Monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius) - Long Tailed Skink (Eutropis longicaudata) - Egg-eating snake (Oligodon formosanus) - Sand goby (Pomatoschistus minutus) ___________________________________________ References: Special thanks to Professor Hope Klug, from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, for help with research on this video! Day, C. S., & Galef, B. G. (1977). Pup cannibalism: One aspect of maternal behavior in golden hamsters. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 91(5), 1179-1189. doi:10.1037/h0077386 Gilbert, W. M., Nolan, P. M., Stoehr, A. M., & Hill, G. E. (2005). Filial Cannibalism at a House Finch Nest. The Wilson Bulletin, 117(4), 413-415. doi:10.1676/04-003.1 Full text: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20060130?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Huang, W. (2008). Predation risk of whole-clutch filial cannibalism in a tropical skink with maternal care. Behavioral Ecology, 19(6), 1069-1074. Full text: http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/content/19/6/1069.full#ref-1 Klug, H., & Bonsall, M. (2007). When to Care for, Abandon, or Eat Your Offspring: The Evolution of Parental Care and Filial Cannibalism. The American Naturalist, 170(6), 886-901. doi:10.1086/522936 Abstract: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/522936#rf13 Klug, H., & Lindstrom, K. (2008). Hurry-up and hatch: Selective filial cannibalism of slower developing eggs. Biology Letters, 4(2), 160-162. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0589 Abstract: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/2/160 Why do some fish eat their own eggs? - Phys.org. (n.d.). Retrieved October 19, 2016, from http://phys.org/news/2016-02-fish-eggs.html