For Father's Day, Meet The Greatest Dads In The Animal Kingdom

• 01

  Flamingo dads are truly partners in everything

  
  via /flamingo

  When the female is pregnant, the male helps her to build a nest out of mud. Once she has laid the egg, the male shares incubation duties equally with the female. They take turns sitting on the egg and raise their offspring together once it is hatched.

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• 02

  The Emperor Penguin dad goes above and beyond for his offspring

  
  via momlife

  After mother penguins lay the eggs, they return to the sea to hunt and feed, sometimes for up to two months. While the mothers hunt, the fathers stand perfectly still, balancing the fragile eggs on the tops of their feet, and keeping the growing babies warm in their feathered brood pouch. One false move and the egg could crack or slip and freeze in the frigid arctic air.  Despite not eating for months, the male keeps the chick fed once it's hatched until the female penguins return with food.

  
  
  
  

• 03

  The seahorse dad is actually...Mom!

  
  via CBkVtiuBf4f

  After mating, the female seahorse actually lays her eggs INSIDE the male! He then carries them to term, fertilizing the eggs inside his body. The male seahorse can carry up to 1,000 eggs at a time. 

• 04

  The African wild dog makes it his personal mission to ensure that his pups are fed:

  
  via africanwilddog

  While his pups are young, they are unable to digest solid food. The male swallows their food and regurgitates it for the pups to eat so that it is softer on their digestive tract. He keeps close tabs on them, ensuring that they stay close to home and protecting them from outer threats.

  
  

  
  

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• 05

  Baby golden lion tamarins have it made when they are born.

  
  via wellington.zoo

  The male carries them on his back all day, every day until they are around 6 weeks old. The female takes the babies one at a time, for about 15 minutes each, to feed them and then hands them right back to the male when she's finished. Once they are old enough to eat on their own, their father peels and mashes up bananas to feed to them.

• 06

  The blue poison dart frog males go to lengths to keep their offspring alive.

  
  via /bluepoisondartfrog

  Females of this species aren't like most other frogs. Instead of laying hundreds or thousands of eggs, they lay only about half a dozen precious ones. That may be why blue poison dart frog dads are so devoted to them. Frog eggs must stay moist, and these devoted dads accomplish that by regularly urinating on them over the course of 10 days, until they hatch as tadpoles. After the eggs hatch, dad's work isn't over. As the primary caregiver, he must carry each tadpole, one at a time, on his back to suitable micropool of rainwater that can serve as an individual nest. Over the next few months, his offspring will develop lungs and legs and eventually become fully formed froglets.

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