Killer whale sons mooch off their mothers far into adulthood, a phenomenon found absolutely nowhere else in nature that we can think of.
, examined the “costly lifetime maternal investment” in three pods of killer whales living in the Pacific Ocean over a span of 40 years. What they found is totally new information about how whale family units work, and the fact is that it’s rough to be an orca boy mom.
But when a female killer whale has a son, he will often stay at her side for years, even for the entire rest of her life, eating her leftovers and acting like a juvenile calf no matter his actual age. While he might leave her side to mate, he soon returns, letting someone else raise his baby while he continues to act like one.
In fact, in any given year of the study, a mother killer whale was 70% less likely to have another calf if they still had a son “living at home.” And it didn’t matter whether the son was still only three or a hearty 18 years old. If a orca didn’t have kids or if she had a daughter, her chance of having more offspring was the same.
So, if you have a full-grown human son playing video games in your basement right now, maybe you can blame it on Mother Nature’s mysterious ways? Or maybe you should consider not giving him free salmon every night?
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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