Beyond Nature and Nurture

The more your parents bond before you’re born, the better adjusted you’ll be — at least if you’re a Japanese quail. Researchers at the University of Rennes in France studied how bonding in this monogamous species might affect their progeny. They looked at 30 male-female pairs, some of which developed close bonds by staying together all the time, while others met just three times a week for sex. Those bonds mattered: Chicks from the tight-knit parents were more social and less fearful.