I was watching a nature documentary where a crab produced several dozen babies, and then turned around and started eating them. If she needed the nutrients so badly, why not just have fewer kids? From a thermodynamic standpoint that would preserve more calories.
I’ve also seen footage of birds brooding, laying, and then hatching multiple eggs, only to push half of the chicks out of the nest. That’s such a huge investment of time and energy. Why not just lay fewer eggs?
In other situations it is more understandable: A male lion might kill another male’s offspring to make room for his own. Cuckoos push other baby birds out of the nest so they can be adopted by the parents. But many cases of infanticide in the wild just seem time-consuming and wasteful.
In: Biology
It’s not just nature… up until about a 100 years ago it was super common in humanity as well.
Listen to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History episode “Suffer the Children” podcast
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