‘The circuitry facilitating parental behaviour is the same in males and females,’ O’Connell told me. So it’s not that one sex is programmed to instinctively provide care, it’s just that one does it. But both retain the brain architecture to drive the care instinct. Which is something of a body blow for the idea of a unique maternal instinct, in frogs at least.But what about mammals, where the lion’s share of parental care is often provided by the female and males can be, well, somewhat less inclined to nurture?
