For Scientific American Science quickly, I'm Rachel Feldman.

Parental care is costly.

It uses up precious time, energy, and resources.

And in the animal world, it's usually the moms who bear the brunt of it.

For most mammals, the concept of fatherhood begins and ends at

conception. So what drives a father to defy evolutionary norms? Today's episode celebrates the

super parent skills of a surprising and adorable little critter. Our guide for this Father's Day

Friday fascination is Ella Fetter,

a freelance audio producer, editor, and journalist. Here's Ella now. In mammals, good dads are the

exception. Male leopards, bears, orcas, they have a habit of toddling off after mating and leaving

the mothers to raise the kids.

So when you come across a mammal species with active doting dads, dads who actually matter for their

kids' survival, you pay attention. And one of the most extreme cases of good fatherhood can be found

in a dwarf hamster that lives in the cold, dry semi-deserts of Russia, China, and Mongolia.

Fidopis Cambeli, aka the Jungarian hamster.

Cambeli males and females raise their kids in burrows underground, and when the first letter of pups arrive,

the dads get to work right away.

They will be very close by during the birth.

Catherine Wyn Edwards is a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Calgary.

It took her a while to figure out exactly what these male hamsters were doing.

But then she saw it.

They were acting as midwives, physically delivering the babies.

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