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How and why human males evolved the capacity to be highly involved caregivers - and why some are more involved than others.. We all know the importance of mothers. They are typically as paramount in the wild as they are in human relationships. But what about fathers? In most mammals, including our closest living primate relatives, fathers have little to no involvement in raising their offspring - and sometimes even kill the offspring sired by other fathers. How, then, can we explain modern fathers having the capacity to be highly engaged parents? In Father Nature, James Rilling explores how humans have evolved to endow modern fathers with this potential and considers why this capacity evolved in humans.. Paternal caregiving is advantageous to children and, by extension, to society at large, yet variable both across and within human societies.