Sunday, March 2, 2008

Sex orgy

How to tickle a chimpanzee (indeed, how) ? why penguin do not have cold feet ? these are important questions which must be asked and thanks to Darwin and The new scientist we know (don't you ?) . They go now further in their studies with the animals and you won't be surprised if you're told that some of their habits look pretty much as ours. We learn that some monkeys like to get drunk, some female fish simulate orgasm to escape from a partner and guess which invertebrate can have an erection ? uh, uh ? The squid leaves alone for a year or two but each winter in Australia they take part at a big orgy (never tried ? Australia must be a nice country to visit at this time of the year, we must organize something). Eleven male for one female (close your mouth darling, you're slavering) all use different strategies including disguise. Some birds prostitute themselves to have access to food or shelter. The female colibri can have sex with the males that let her take the food from their territory even outside the love season. Other birds have mistresses. To his "wife" the bird will bring a big insect before having sex. To his mistress a little present as well but four time richer in energy ! The trout will simulate orgasm so the male will ejaculate faster. The male gone the female will look for another one, more attractive to her. In the insect world It is not sad neither. Some males (I won't tell names, It's everywhere) can inseminate a female they never met. How ? each female is inseminated by many males who clean the genitals before laying down the sperm. The cleaning is never perfect so the job done the male leaves with the sperm of another one that he will lay down to another female. Those behaviours explain why we find more than 200 sexually transmissible diseases in the world of reptiles, insects and mammals. With the birds the habits are similar with humans. The female can leave a male if he is not entrepreneurial enough or clumsy. If divorce is 0% with the albatross this percentage can go up to 99% with the pink flamingos. Some others while copulating give to the female proteins that makes her life shorter or longuer. And you find butterflies pretty ? did you know that to be sure that the female will not fly with another male, they cover her with some anti-aphrodisiacs ? Some monkeys if we give them the occasion can get drunk. Some birds take berries as a drug and carry on flying while being stoned so they hit a tree or fall down from the nest. The monkey like porn but if it comes from a more dominant male. No reaction if the social position of the male is lower than his. The rats recognize cocaine (like dogs). The hyena perfectly analyses the position of power in the group and will always stay on the dominant side. A rare example of help from the neighbour comes from the crab who can help the one who is threatened by another crab which wants to appropriate a part of its territory. A small chimpanzee will spontaneously help another one who has difficulties without asking reward. Such altruism can only be found with humans they say (frankly said, speaking of humans ...). But chimpanzee related to human, murder is common as well. For 100 000 monkeys 207 are killed each year. The elephants will study carefully the rests of the skull and the tusks of a dead fellow. And what about the question from the start ? the invertebrate who can have a hard on is the male octopus. All this is fascinating and we still have to answer some more questions : why kangaroos stamp one's foot, why carnivores who leave in the high latitudes where there is a lot of snow have bigger penis than the other ones and is this also valid for the human race and well then to the ski teachers ? Please let me know.

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