Why Do Animals Eat Their Babies?

Sometimes, it makes sense for critters across the animal kingdom to chow down on their own young. ___________________________________________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)___________________________________________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___________________________________________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/h0077386Gilbert, 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:10.1676/04-003.1Full text: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20060130?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contentsHuang, 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-1Klug, 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:10.1086/522936Abstract: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/522936#rf13Klug, 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.2007.0589Abstract: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/2/160Why 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