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The harsher the environment, the more help parents receive

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  • Parents everywhere in the world receive help with childcare, from older kids, grandparents, or others. Without such help human evolution as such would not have been possible. Here we see Tsimane parents from the Bolivian Amazon, who would not be able to feed their multiple dependent children without help.
    Parents everywhere in the world receive help with childcare, from older kids, grandparents, or others. Without such help human evolution as such would not have been possible. Here we see Tsimane parents from the Bolivian Amazon, who would not be able to feed their multiple dependent children without help.
  • The 141 traditional societies in this study were spread across the globe and exhibited either little (purple) or a lot (yellow) of alloparenting.
    The 141 traditional societies in this study were spread across the globe and exhibited either little (purple) or a lot (yellow) of alloparenting.
  • Communal childcare played an important role for many native tribes in the deserts, savannas and shrublands of North America, like the Comanche pictured here.
    Communal childcare played an important role for many native tribes in the deserts, savannas and shrublands of North America, like the Comanche pictured here.
  • Among the Yąnomamö people of the Amazon rain forest, mothers had fewer helpers to rely on and performed the vast majority of direct childcare.
    Among the Yąnomamö people of the Amazon rain forest, mothers had fewer helpers to rely on and performed the vast majority of direct childcare.
  • Higher rates of infant alloparenting were observed in regions with relatively cooler, dryer, and less predictable climates, such as the Sonoran desert inhabited by the Tohono Oʼodham people. Such harsh environments exhibit reduced biodiversity and tend to support smaller human population sizes, suggesting that people living in these regions face common challenges that increase the benefits of cooperative childcare.
    Higher rates of infant alloparenting were observed in regions with relatively cooler, dryer, and less predictable climates, such as the Sonoran desert inhabited by the Tohono Oʼodham people. Such harsh environments exhibit reduced biodiversity and tend to support smaller human population sizes, suggesting that people living in these regions face common challenges that increase the benefits of cooperative childcare.