![]() The various forms of care evolved to protect, nurture and educate offspring which led to the development of parental strategies including diverse morphological, physiological and behavioural adaptations to increase offspring development and survival 4– 7. Parental care is one of the most diverse social behaviours 1– 3. ![]() Taken together, our results of a semi-aquatic early vertebrate group propose that the diversity and follow-up radiation of terrestrial vertebrates are inherently associated with a complex social behaviour, parenting. Importantly, internal fertilisation opens the way to terrestrial reproduction, because fertilised females are able to deposit their eggs on land, and with maternal care provision, the eggs could potentially develop outside the aquatic environment. Using 181 species that represent all major lineages of an early vertebrate group, the salamanders and newts (Caudata, salamanders henceforth) here we show that fertilisation mode is tied to parental care: male-only care occurs in external fertilisers, whereas female-only care exclusively occurs in internal fertilisers. Although basal vertebrates provide clues to complex reproduction, these are often understudied. However, the evolutionary routes to complex parenting and the role of parenting in vertebrate diversity are still contentious. Complex parenting has been proposed to contribute to the evolutionary success of vertebrates.
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