mating
jgoldman | July 5, 2010"The males often prefer eating to mating."
Apparently, giant panda dudes (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) in captivity would rather sit around and munch on bamboo than get it on with the females. And this is a problem at the Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Centre, where scientists are urging the pandas to breed, for conservation purposes.
What's the answer to this important problem? Panda porn, of course!
Pandas are known to be isolated creatures and poor breeders, and in captivity the problem may be exacerbated. Zhihe and his team have tried a number of measures to try to cure the male panda of…
grrlscientist | September 28, 2009tags: nature, mammals, Antarctica, blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, National Geographic, streaming video
Researchers on a National Geographic expedition seek answer some mysteries surrounding Blue Whales, Balaenoptera musculus, and find tantalizing clues, but big questions remain unanswered.
jchosy | July 14, 2009According to a paper to be released in the September issue of the journal "American Naturalist", the number of sperm a male ejaculates may be correlated to his attractiveness as measured by the females in the population. The idea came forth after scientists at University College London and the Oxford University mathematically modeled the optimal "sperm load" to maximize daddiness across a range of mating patterns. The research, which took place late one Friday night at the corner bar, was one of several proposed ideas to "settle a bet" between two of the scientists.
The results suggest that…
edyong | June 25, 2009You've got to feel sorry for the female seed beetle. Whenever she mates with a male, she has to contend with his spiked, nightmarish penis (remember this picture?). And despite the damage that it inflicts, one liaison just isn't enough; female seed beetles typically mate with many males before they lay their eggs. Surely, she must benefit in some way?
The most likely idea is that she somehow ensures that her eggs are fertilised by sperm from males with the "best" genes - those that either make for particularly fit and healthy young, or that are a compatible match for the female's own genes.…
edyong | March 1, 2009If you've ever complained about having bad sex, you really have no idea. Human women may have to complain about poor stamina or incompetent technique but the female seed beetle (or bean weevil; Callosobruchus maculatus) has to contend with her partner's nightmarish penis - an organ covered in hard, sharp spikes. Just see if you can look at the picture on the right without wincing.
It's no surprise then that females sustain heavy injuries during sex. But why have male beetles evolved such hellish genitals? What benefits do they gain by physically harming their partners?
It's possible that…
zooillogix | February 13, 2009Concerned that their male red bird of paradise, Paprika, might turn off female companions by repeating human words he learned from visitors, animal keeper Patti Cooper took matters into her own hands. First she crafted a sexy female red bird of paradise puppet, dubbed "Spice Girl." Then she convinced Paprika to call Spice Girl on a 900 number. Now Paprika is engaged in the right behaviors and the Bronx Zoo is making $2.99 for the first minute and $16.99 for each additional minute.
No but for real, the bird got it on with a puppet... and is now displaying the proper courtship behaviors.…
zooillogix | May 1, 2008As reported in the May 2008 Journal of Ethology, researchers in the sub-antarctic Indian Ocean on Marion Island, recently observed some fascinating and disturbing behavior. A young adult Antarctic fur seal was witnessed forcing itself upon an adult king penguin for upwards of 45 minutes. While young adult fur seals are known for aggressive sexuality that sometimes spans species between pinnepeds, this is the first documented case of a seal "[bridging] the level of vertebrate class in their copulatory attempts." i.e. getting it on with a freakin penguin.
The seal was first spotted subduing the…
zooillogix | April 21, 2008Two species of teleost fish, grunion are famous for their unique mating behavior. During high tides, female grunion crawl out along the water's edge and dig their tails into the wet sand. The males then wrap themselves around the female to mate and the eggs are deposited in the sand. During the next set of very high-tides, the eggs hatch and the baby grunion wash out to sea. They are native only to California and Baja Mexico.
California Grunion, Leuresthes tenuis
More info is available at Grunion.org. Another, better video is available with ads on CNN.
bleimanb | March 12, 2008Aptly named by whoever started this viral email...
Hmmm...what's that moose up to?
The images below the fold are morally reprehensible, even by moose standards.
Special thanks to Alan "B.A. Baracus" Bleiman for forwarding this along to us...
zooillogix | August 7, 2007In two tantalizing shark discoveries, scientists in Germany have learned that playing certain songs to sharks in aquariums increases their libidos. Meanwhile, a different group of scientists may have discovered the secret rendezvous spot where great white sharks go to mate.
Bon-Chicka-Bow-Wow
Out of sheer frustration with the lack of sexual behavior in their captive sharks, researchers in German aquariums tried playing different music to the fish, hoping that it would help put them in the mood. The same tactic has proven successful with captive panda bears and primates in the past, and lo…
zooillogix | June 28, 2007Mandarin Goby, Synchiropus splendidus
Researchers from James Cook University in North Queensland, Australia have made a startling discovery: gobies intentionally deprive themselves of food to avoid conflict with their rulers. Goby society is lorded over by the largest males and females and these are the only individuals allowed to breed. If a smaller goby tries to jump the queue and mate, it will be expelled from the group by the bigger fish. However, all is not peaches and cream at the top, as competition between the larger fish to establish dominance is fierce. Therefore, smaller gobies…
zooillogix | April 26, 2007A nearly extinct species of hummingbird has been captured on film for the first time demonstrating its spatula-crazed mating dance. The aptly named Marvelous Spatuletail lives in a single, isolated valley in northern Peru. There are only 350 - 1,000 thought left to exist. The video really is extraordinary.
Marvelous Spatuletail, Lodigesia mirabilis digg_url='http://zooillogix.blogspot.com/2007/04/marvelous-spatula-tale.html';