Pharyngula

Well, of all the irreducibly complex, no-free-lunch intelligent designs I've seen, being penetrated through and giving birth through what amounts to a penis is among the most wonderful. The Creator's genius is surpassed only by His whimsy.

Posted by: Greg Peterson | May 3, 2006 10:06 AM

Certainly a messy solution. "Why" do hyaenas have such unusual genitals?

Speaking of bad design, that cyclone flash animation that is part of that "Mega Disasters" ad in the side bar is somewhat annoying ...

Posted by: Keith Douglas | May 3, 2006 10:21 AM

Dr. Tatiana:

http://www.drtatiana.com/

has a nice discussion about this, too. It's just all-around nasty. (note...not shilling for the good Doctor, just like the book)

Isn't there some old creationist argument about only humans suffering painful and dangerous childbirth as a consequence of original sin, which animals don't suffer because they're exempt from said sin?

Posted by: rrt | May 3, 2006 10:58 AM

I wonder, in general, how much intra-litter competition has affected the evolution of mammals.

Posted by: pdf23ds | May 3, 2006 11:16 AM

Dude. I'm eating over here.

Posted by: BlueIndependent | May 3, 2006 1:31 PM

All in all, the Spotted Hyena is a pretty rocking animal:

The spotted hyena is primarily a predator, not a scavenger. Individuals have been clocked at over 55 kilometres per hour (34 mph), and when hunting in packs are capable of taking down the largest of prey. Spotted Hyenas have such formidable jaws (one of the strongest in the animal kingdom) and teeth that they devour even the bones of their kill. This, combined with their very strong stomach acid, results in them having crusty white droppings (from all the bone meal). The hyena's distinctive laughing call, used to disorient prey and gather the pack, has resulted in their nickname "laughing hyena".

Although lions are much larger, hyenas will defend their kills if possible, and hyena packs have been known to kill lions if they outnumber them significantly.
(from, where else, Wikipedia)

The thing that's most mind-boggling about this bizarre, cobbled-together reproductive system is that it obviously works. As fucked up and hazardous as it is, Brown Hyenas seem to be thriving, over 2/3rds of Africa. Try and imagine the selective pressures that would FAIL to stop a system like this from evolving, or fail to weed it out. Ouch.

Funny thing, some more PG13 wildlife websites severely censor the bizarro facts about how these guys breed. For example HERE: http://www.zoo.org/educate/fact_sheets/savana/hyena.htm, where the closest they come to this is "Determining the sex of males and females is difficult, because their reproductive organs appear similar!" Ho ho.

Guess they thought the real story would scar kids for life. They're right, of course.

Posted by: George Cauldron | May 3, 2006 3:48 PM

My comment sits there with its now editorialised history and looks decidedly anal. I'm doing it to get used to the correct spelling of course - but perhaps you knew that.

Posted by: Torbjörn Larsson | May 3, 2006 6:05 PM

Don't worry about the selective pressures that fail to weed it out, worry about the selective pressures that may cause that reproductive system to be an effective strategy.

It's not always a good idea to have highly efficient reproduction, for a variety of reasons.

Posted by: Caledonian | May 3, 2006 8:47 PM