Parental Care

Introduction: The phylogeny of parental care and mating systems in Cichlids The research proposal is meant to be an introduction section of a formal scientific lab report. It needs to start broad and then narrowed down to specifics, it also has to include the current research on the topic, gaps in the research, and how I plan on filling the gaps, also why the contribution of what I am doing is valuable and interesting. The biggest key is having background information on parenting and mating strategies in cichlids (the fish family: Cichlidae). I also need a research question/hypothesis that I am testing. I was told to “frame out the main issues/topics you want to cover and devote a paragraph to each. Expand your literature coverage on this topic, focus on the broader implications of your work.” Overall, I am looking at the evolutionary history (or phylogeny) of how parenting and mating systems evolved in individual species of cichlids and seeing if there is any correlation.  I need a strong base to start the research paper so really gathering as much information on cichlids parental care and mating systems is super important. I am also looking at what that may show in terms of a bigger picture, like why is this important or what could be the broader implications of this study. Those last 2 elements are the most important when it comes to writing the introduction, but all of it is needed. Also if you have suggestions for a better title that would be great, currently I have “Phylogenetic relationships between parental care and mating systems in Chichlidae”. Here is a really good paper, but obviously more will be needed:  https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijeb/2011/470875/ “Mating and parental care in lake Tanganyika’s cichlids” K. M. Sefc