Posts Tagged ‘mating’

Is Bleaching Next? Whales Look at Teeth When Picking Mates

beaked whaleHumans aren’t the only species that use pearly whites to judge the fitness of a mate: Apparently teeth are also important to a certain species of whales. The beaked whales have earned the reputation as the most bizarre whales in the ocean, spending the majority of their lives foraging for food and living in seclusion. For years, scientists have wondered why these strange whales have tusks, especially since it hinders their bite.

It turns out these seeming-unnecessary teeth are important for mating—a discovery that marks the first time scientists have found a secondary sexual characteristic (like antlers) that shaped evolution in a marine mammal.

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December 17th, 2008 Tags: , ,
by Boonsri Dickinson in Sex & Mating, The Ocean & All Its (Endangered) Wonders | 6 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

Fish Fall Victim to “Pollution Goggles” When It Comes to Mating

fishAt a bar, intoxicated people may fall victim to the notorious “beer goggles” effect. Now, researchers have discovered that in the fish world, pollution can have the same effect as a six-pack of Heineken.

Scientists already know that female African cichlids are partially blind, and have evolved into a new species over the past 30 years. The cichlids in Lake Victoria’s polluted waters are vanishing, causing “the largest human-witnessed mass extinction of vertebrates.” And now, pollution is also causing closely-related species of cichlids to interbreed, all because they can’t see each other.

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October 6th, 2008 Tags: , , ,
by Boonsri Dickinson in Pollution Solutions (& Disasters), Sex & Mating, The Wide (& Strange) World of Animals | 0 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >