[Image: mating sand wasps, Alex Wild]
Gonna Have a Fungal Good Time
When Love Shocks
Water Strider Blues
Darwin, Sex and Dada
I don't have much to say about these posts, just pick one or two to read over and let us all know what you found interesting.
40 comments:
After reading “Darwin, Sex and Dada,” I thought more about why people find certain features attractive and others not. There is not much thought needed to discern between something beautiful and ugly, yet people, and scientists even, cannot explain the reason for this attraction that is found throughout the animal kingdom. In the same way that animals, like the birds mentioned in the article, may be attracted to striking traits like bright red spots, I also believe that men and women also, subconsciously, evaluate the attractiveness of a person’s traits in terms of genetic superiority. Since humans naturally vie for what is best, genetics are no exception.
I like how “When Love Shocks” specifies that it is the female fish that are picky in selecting a mate. The female fish is the one that acts aggressively to pursue the male fish, initiating interaction after the male fish “passively” plays his courtship song. The article continues to defend the forthright actions of the female fish, saying that the entire species would collapse had the females settled for any fish, regardless of any special traits. I wish more human females were like this.
The fact that Mormyrid fish can produce electronic discharges to attract mates and locate prey is amazing! With this unique feature, I find it interesting that these fish can hunt in total darkness and warn themselves of oncoming prey. In some way it’s like a dolphin’s sonar in that they can locate animals and other organisms around them. For mating purposes, I think the ability of the Mormyrid fish to emit pulses of electricity to attract females is astounding. It’s interesting to see the results of the experiment the biologists of the University of Regensburg performed. I’m not surprised that the female Mormyrid fish was more attracted to the more endowed, longer emitting pulses of the male Mormyrid fish. It’s interesting to see how similar the actions and attitudes of other organisms are to humans.
I found the next article about the water striders to be fairly disturbing. Aggressive and hyper aggressive males of the water strider species are similar to our modern day rapists. The fact that “the female strider will struggle to escape, but the male will wrap his legs around her midsection”, insert his phallus into the female’s reproductive tract, and inflate it to keep it in place further proves my point. I’m not surprised the females go through such measures to conceal themselves. Hiding off the water or migrating to calmer, more serene locations in order to find the right mate seems like the right thing to do in my opinion.
The article on the fish "When Love Shocks" does not surprise me all too much. It is a unique courtship, but doesn't nearly every species have a special technique. Dolphins and whales sing, some penguins make rock nests, and us humans sing, show off, show our leadership and courage. It also seems that theres a similarity with females always being picky whether it is to have the best children or just to have the best living arrangement. I think if it wasn't for all the knowledge we have acquired about other courtships our own could be quite different. Maybe one day humans will be using electricity to attract a partner haha.
In "Gonna Have a Fungal Good Time," the purpose of yeast pheromones is discussed. I found it very interesting because humans rely so much on scent and it is a major part of attraction. Most people enjoy their significant other to use a nice smelling body wash or perfume/colougne, and will be pretty disgusted when said partner smells of body odor after a game. It was interesting to found out that other species, even species at such a low level, use phermones as attractors as well. It just goes to show how closely related everything is.
I also enjoyed the "Darwin, Sex and Dada" article. Everyone knows that the male of most animal species is prettier to look at (peacocks, robins, wood ducks, lions, etc), but even scientists do not know exactly why. Personally, the theory that satisfies me the most would be that the courtship dances and songs, colorful patterns on males, pheromones, and electricity that animals, and humans, display are in order to keep procreation succesful and productive. Female birds born with the attraction to male birds with good genes will enable the bird population to continue to grow and continue to create well-off offspring.
While reading in “When Love Shocks” about how the mormyrids used their awareness of electricity to hunt in the dark, the first thing I thought of was the echolocation that bats use to find prey in the dark using high pitched sound waves. It was interesting how such simple creatures have developed complex ways of communicating with one another, and differentiating one another without any visual cues. It would difficult for me to tell the close species apart by simply looking at them, but the female fish can distinguish between even males from their same species. Perhaps the mormyrids use their sense of electricity as we use our sense of sight. If so, I wonder what would happen if a fish of this type was born without this instinctual ability. Its communicative and hunting abilities would be impaired; how could it survive? It would also have a hard time being able to reproduce with its species, so is it even possible for such a mormyrid to exist?
Like Khari, I found the “Water strider blues” article to be disturbing. It is interesting, however, that such aggressive male water striders still exist. If a great number of females went to mate with the milder males, and males could mate many times, then shouldn’t there be a greater number of tranquil males than aggressive males? Besides, any male strider dim-witted enough to mistakenly jump on another male to mate should not be evolutionarily allowed to reproduce and pass on its hostile genes, in my opinion. Overall, both of these articles were interesting and shocking (no pun intended).
Did somebody say "sex"? Oh boy! I'm sure the comments for this one are going to be extra long knowing how high school students are. Let's get started:
Fungal sex? Oh baby. So, if I'm correct about this article, yeast cells will produce identical daughter cells with 2 chromosomes in good times, and spores with 1 chromosome in bad times, such as a plaguing economic depression caused by the yeast's poor DOW rating, right? Unfortunately for the identical daughter cells, they won't get to experience the great and boundless pleasures of fungal sex.
I thought it was absolutely hilarious how they just sort of smack into each other and fuse to have 'sex' with one another. And even funnier, the yeast cells will actually communicate via pheromone in order to attract a mate. This whole situation's parallel to the social nature in human beings and the way we would naturally choose partners to reproduce is extremely interesting to me, personally. Although decisions based on strength and overall alpha-maleism are far and few between today (because girls seem to love overly emotional sparkling men for some reason), the similarities are still rather telling.
It just goes to show that even though we are countless times larger and more complex than these cells and fungi, we all have the same core natural functions and instincts when it comes down to the wire.
I love science.
The subject of reproducing yeast had not entered my mind until I read the article, which had an insight explanation about the process. It’s fascinating how the yeast’s pheromone effects can be comparable to other male animals’ displays of attraction, such as the bright feathers of a peacock or antlers of an elk. The male side gathers a lot of energy to attract a mate. What’s a little depressing that the stronger yeast will woo over the female with its dazzling performance and the female won’t be attracted to the weak yeast at all. All that the stronger one needs is to emit a dazzling amount of pheromones. I understand that the stronger the male, the more good genes the offspring will have, but I usually root for the underdog…at least the female won’t be cheated by the imposters. Interesting that honesty is really essential in finding a mate…a lesson many humans can learn from.
I found the article "when love shocks" extremely fascinating and somewhat amusing. From what I've read, mormyrids are able to produce electric discharges that sort of function as a sixth sense. Aside from the electricity being used as an "essence of desire", it's also behaves as a way of communication when these fish hunt together. These fish are highly intelligent in their sense of electricity; they have the ability to hunt for prey in complete darkness. Even though their electricity serves as a way of survival, mormyrids also use it for courting other fish. Their mating rituals are extremely eccentric, such as the "head-butting" the females do because they are so charmed by the electric pulses the males release. Imagine a woman head-butting a man that she found attractive!
After I read "when love shocks" I began to read "water strider blues" so there was a mood change from "romantic (yet odd) courtship" to "less blissful and quite unpleasant mating". I can honestly say that I never knew that "rape" existed within other species, and that these water striders refer to their victims as "prey", so I agree with Khari when he says this article is rather disturbing. It's ironic how the hyperaggressive males aim to fertilize as many eggs, which really cause the females to produce fewer eggs, abandon their group and seek the milder males with which they produce more eggs with. So in the end, the hyperaggressive males' intentions actually cause them to fail. Serves them right!
Interesting links haha. Well, I found "Darwin, Sex, and Dada" interesting because it exemplifies the relation amongst life of a much smaller, less intricate lifestyle to us. The thought that female birds may be more attracted to male birds with brighter colors more so than those of dull is basically how the system works with us, but like I said, more intricate. Lets say there's a man with very tanned skin blonde hair and blue eyes and another man next to him with darker hair and paler skin, most woman would be more attracted to the blonde haired man ( picky) while some may be attracted to both. Im not exactly sure if its the same thing, since our genetics are much more complex than that, but it does show that humans rely much on the appearance of a person whether knowingly or not.
The graphics of the water strider article bothered me a little, because it basically mimics rape in our world. However, the ability of females go to great lengths to avoid the hyperaggressive males is impressive. Although the hyperaggressive males can be found everywhere, females are capable of leaving and finding different groups to live in. I wonder, though, how they know if a male is hyperaggressive or not before mating season. Do they have to suffer through the season before they can leave?
It's pretty cool that we're attracted to the good looking people for a genetic reason. It may not make much sense- and not be very good for the people who aren't good looking- but it's very interesting. The fact that some people may be genetically influenced to prefer a certain trait rethinks the whole idea of being attracted to someone. We like to say we're attracted to someone for who they are, they're personality, but it's actually a lot more of what they look like than we care to admit. It also says a lot about the human species that our signals are not always honest. In other species, the signal reflects the 'person,' but with humans, what you see may not be what you're getting.
Reading, "Gonna Have a Fungal Good Time" was really quite interesting. I was shocked to learn that yeast cells create pheromones like we humans do, that attract potential mates. I couldn't believe a process that humans undergo, was occurring at the microscopic cellular level of a fungus! The article mentions how producing a pheromone was "costly" in a way to the cells... and to me that makes perfect sense. I never knew that was true, but nowe that i think about it, it makes higher quality candidates for reproduction more likely to attract a mate; this is exactly what Darwin would deem as "Survival of the fittest". what an excellent article, it was an intriguing read.
"Darwin Sex and Dada" ws an interesting article as well that discussed sexual selection. I find it amazing that biologists and scientists are still arguing and scientifically debating this process. I agree with Prum's idea that some traits that are acquired by a species have no purpose. Infact, i believe that most of the traits probablly have no underlying purpose. For instance, i know that the dominant gene in humans is to have six fingers (on each hand) while the recessive is to have five fingers. However, nearly 100% of the seven billion humans on earth were born with five fingers on each hand; I do not believe this is for any reason, that five fingers is better than six, I believe our population has evolved to grow ten fingers rather than twelve.. for no reason. Just as Richard Prume believes.
Both articles sparked my interest about the world of recent science and modern biology, and i was glad you posted them. They make me wonder what scientists will know 10, 20, and 50 years from now. How will their hypotheses change? Only time will tell.
Darwin's idea of sexual selection in animals makes sense. It's true even for the more civil animals, us. The more attractive the male, the more attracted the female will be to him...and vice versa. Everyone judges people based on how they look whether they want to believe it or not, so having exceptional physical traits will help your chances of 'finding a mate'. The pictures of the bugs in the articles remind me of how every year I see those giant mosquito insects mating on my window..sometimes like 3 pairs at a time. I guess they don't care if they have privacy...
Otherwise...animals and insects really do have weird mating 'routines'. If it's not the alluring, it's what happens after they successfully mate. For example, if I remeber correctly, the female black widow spider eats the male afterwards. What is the point of making more, when half of them are going to be eaten soon enough anyway?
Sex is a very interesting topic (i do not mean that in any perverted or odd way). It is just something that is part of life. Humans are not the only species who do this. There are many other animals that also have to reproduce by sex. However, it may be extremely different to humans. The Mormyrid fish uses electrical pulses to court with another and butt heads. It is interesting that the female fish are incredibly picky about who they choose. Within the same species that break it down into more specifics and mate a male who is similar to them in almost every way.
Although the action is different we can see this same selective characteristic of mormyrid in today's teenagers. All the female seem to have this 'power' of choice. They choose whether or not they want to date a chosen guy. A girl will not randomly date every guy she meets, but will select someone who is close to her and someone she thinks is right. The guy 'supposedly' has to take the first action; he has to make the approach and draw a girl in and try and win her. This is just like the electrical pulses. Also just like the pulses which are wide in range, each guy has their own style of approaching a girl, their own "flirting style."
I thought When Love Shocks was the most interesting article. I knew that different species have different methods of contacting each other, mainly with sound, but it took me by surprise that electrical pulses were another method. I also thought it was funny that males accept any female that comes to them, but the females are so picky. Something that stuck out to me is the fact that the Mormyrids have to avoid the Catfish who also hunt using electrical pulses. I wonder if the Mormyrids can control the strength of the pulse that they send out to go along with the fact that they can control long the amount of time the electrical pulse is given off. Also, I wonder how the Mormyrids know, when hunting, if the electrical impulse sensed is in fact that of a prey, or some other underwater organism. It’s interesting how large of a difference there is between the most closely related Mormyrids. But at the same time, this would explain why when two different types of species converge, there is such a large transformation.
The Water Strides Blues article, for me, was very bizarre. The way that males mate would be considered rape among humans, and the fact that some Water Striders are so aggressive that they even jump on other males speaks volumes about the high testosterone level that they have. Another intriguing thing that came from the article is how some males are so aggressive that it will force the females into hiding. At the same time, however, this balances the male Water Striders into hyper aggressive and simply aggressive. This is different from what we usually here about evolution, as it does not seem to be taking place as rapidly among Water Striders, or more specifically, the male Water Striders. As I was reading the article, something that stuck in my mind was how the Water Striders sense the waves in order to sense their potential mates. It was interesting to me how neither the Mormyrids nor the Water Striders use their sense of sight when finding mates on the journey of producing off spring, and truly puts other species of organisms in perspective to that if human beings.
The mormyrids’ use of electricity to communicate, locate prey, and even mate is incredibly fascinating. I found it quite amusing that when female mormyrids detect courtship pulses from nearby male mormyrids they do not indiscriminately mate with just any other mormyrid, but rather one of their own species. I find this quite similar to the way humans work. Most humans naturally tend to seek partners of their own race and maybe, are more attracted to partners of their own race. Also, looking at both the yeast’s pheromones to a mormyrid’s electrical pulse, it’s interesting to note that in order to first even send out strong signals to female mates, the males must have a wealth of resources and/or energy available to them. In the yeast’s case, the yeast must have enough energy to channel to send out a higher of pheromones (thus increasing the chances of mating). In the mormyrids’ case, the fish must be strong enough to take the risk of increasing the duration of his electrical pulse because as written in the article, catfish can also detect the electrical pulses. In the end, everything all fits together. Those who are stronger are able to mate and thus, give their good genes to the next generation.
Firstly, I'd like to say that my mom saw me reading about multiple forms of animal sex and was somewhat fearful of my sanity. I mean, sex articles isn't part of your everyday reading material. Nonetheless, reading "Gonna Have A Fungal Good Time" was interesting, if not disturbing. Even yeast have the capabilities of wooing and deceit. Actually, I was somewhat disappointed to realize that dishonesty in society has reached even our little bread-makers. Also, just like us humans, yeast have to put an effort into looking good for the ladies. The study of the energy needed to release pheromones and the consequent accelerated growth of yeast if the pheromone release was shut off was very intriguing. Unlike a physical mark that other animals display, like a peacock's feathers, the pheromones put a lot of strain on the yeast. I never even imagined yeast reproducing, yet it's interesting to have the information from this article in my memory. It could make a good story down the line.
As for the other articles, I wasn't as amazed. However, I found the mormyrid one to be interesting in some ways. I am just hungry to know more. I feel like there is so much to know about nature, and that we don't know the half of it. To think that electrical impulses are mating tools is just plain odd. You don't see that everyday. As the article states, "Hey, it’s a mormyrid thing; you wouldn’t understand." For years, there will be a lot of things we don't fully understand. 20 years from now, some of the things that we learn in this year's upcoming biology class could be wrong! Yet, that what makes science interesting; it is a lifelong struggle to understand.
The Darwin, Sex, and Data article was very interesting because it explained how sexual evolution helped females determine mates that had favorable traits. It appears that the females in a species prefer the most ‘fit’ male, whether it is strength, the lavish color of feathers, etc. Zoologists from the Smithsonian Institute did a study in the Galapagos Islands where they examined male fiddler crabs. The males attracted mates by using their physical appearances as well as how well constructed their nests are. Zoologists discovered that most female crabs varied in their choice of mates instead of choosing the larger crab with the best constructed nest. The study shows that females choose a mate by personal preference, for instance the male with the best nest who may be small in size, rather than the ‘fittest’ male.
I also liked the water strider blues article which described how aggressive and relentless some species are in order to pass on their genetic material. Water striders use their aggression to force females to mate which also occurs in the mating practices of hippos. Sometimes when male hippos want to mate with a particular female, the male attacks the female who has already mated. The male would also kill the female’s offspring that are not his in order to make her produce offspring of his own. These aggressive tendencies can be seen in other species such as black widow spiders, and praying mantissas.
Its only logical that the hyper aggressive water striders mentioned in “Water Strider Blues” would have more offspring. Since the female has to fight any male she finds undesirable off and it is clearly more difficult to fight off a stronger and more hyper aggressive male, they have a greater number of offspring than more mellow water striders. I found it interesting that females who live in groups with a large number of hyper aggressive neighbors try to hide themselves or escape to a group with a smaller number of them. You really can’t blame them for wanted to escape from their temperamental counterparts, who also try to mate with males because they are so eager.
"When Love Shocks": This article was interesting to read. I thought it was cool to read about how the mormyrids produce an electrical discharge and create kind of a force field. It is a unique way of protecting oneself. The way the article describes the fish's sense of the electricity is similar to when humans get shivers... it spreads all over the body. Whenever i hear about nocturnal fish, I imagine them with lights and big scary teeth. it meakes sense that each species has its own electrical pulse like a fingerprint. The female fish seem just like humans in their pickiness in finding the right mate. The fact that the mormyrid's song evolves as they drift apart shows that when a species evolve, all of its characterisitics change also. its a fact of life that everything has to change and move forward.
"Water Strider Blues": Water Striders are lucky in the fact that they can walk on water, which is what everyone wishes for at some point in their lives. Similar to the Mormyrids, the water strider can sense females through a unique way: male can sense them through changes in the water. This article is kind of distrubing. Its sad that the males force the females to produce offsprings for them. They treat the females as a baby machine, which is depressing.
Sexual displays play a key role in the attraction between male and female organisms of the same species. According to Carl Smith and Duncan Greig, two renowned evolutionary biologists, there are alluring traits that males use to attract females. Some of these traits include bulldog fish pulses, yeast pheromones, peacock tails, frog croaks, and elk horns. For instance, as mentioned in When Love Shocks, the stronger the pulse of the male bulldog fish, the stronger the attraction between him and his female counterparts. As stated in Darwin, Sex, and Dada, these appealing characteristics of male organisms are the result of a natural phenomenon known as sexual selection. This concept of sexual selection explains the innate desire of females to prefer males with certain traits over other males. After reading these articles, it is evident that sexual selection is present in everyday life. In response to Theresa’s comment, I would like to clarify that women are actually picky when it comes to relationships. Women are known to have an idealistic expectation of men and relationships, frequently holding onto the happy ending scenario. Like many female species in the animal kingdom, women tend to picture men who posses special characteristics. Ideally, women are drawn to marvelous physical appearances, demonstrated by the fascination with celebrities. Tight, ripped abs (preferably a 6 pack) and strong biceps (possibly 22’s) are just a few on the long running list of the idealistic, desirable male features that attract women. Consequently, numerous men strive to acquire many of these traits in order to attain the attention of women, thus proving that sexual selection is prevalent within the animal kingdom, even within the human race.
The article about yeast made me wonder something: what good does it do to know how yeast mate? I feel like a lot of scientists waste their time researching things like this that may not have as much useful information as other things that they could be researching. For example, if they researched how certain pathogens reproduced more closely, maybe they would be able to come up with better cures for diseases.
Also, isn't it sort of obvious that organisms with more energy and resources can afford to make more attention getting things? It's sort of like "Hey, I'm rich, I'm going to buy a nice big house and flashy expensive cars so everyone can know!" Honestly, I don't think that they needed to study the pheromone levels in yeast to figure that one out.
On another note, the article about the electric fish interested me quite a bit. Last night I saw a show on television about supposed real-life superhumans. One of them is almost completely resistant to electricity, and another is a blind man who uses echolocation to "see." The first guy ran a hot plate by wrapping wire around himself and stuff. The other is as good or better than a bat; they brought him into some random cave and he got himself out.
Just thought it was interesting that the fish use "electric echolocation" (I'm coining that phrase; if you use it, you owe me $15) and that they can sense tiny electrical changes without being shocked. It's very coincidental that I happened to see that show last night.
I have to admit, I raised an eyebrow when I saw the topic of this week's post. Yet, no matter what anyone says, sex is an extremely provocative topic from a scientific standpoint. Simply put, it is one of the most important biological processes in all organisms, and without it, none of us would be here.
"What makes yeast sex especially interesting ..." Now that is one sentence I never thought I would read. The article concerning the reproductive habits of yeast was quite eye-opening. It is one thing to think of microscopic organisms engaging in reproduction, but the fact yeast cells undergo courtship and even choose their prospective mates is simply astounding. Considering I previously thought only larger creatures partook in pheromone production, I was quite surprised.
I found the "Darwin, Sex and Dada" article to be quite interesting. It makes sense that if an organism possessed an extreme version of a certain trait, other organisms of the same type would be attracted to it for a particular reason. For example, the article discusses how a female peacock may be attracted to a male peacock with large tail bright tail feathers because they are easy to see. The offspring possess the attractive, extreme traits of the parent(s), allowing them to be further passed down the evolutionary line. I sometimes think about this process in humans, as both males and females are attracted to extreme traits in the opposite gender (i.e. large muscles, good looks, etc.). I wonder why we subconsciously consider some traits more attractive than others for no clear reason and how such perceptions began.
The article about the yeast was interesting. I knew animals produced pheromones, but yeast? I didnt really think that simple cells would go around looking for the best mate. Also considering how quickly they divide, that whole selection process is probably superficial; how do they know eachother well enough to start a family? They should atleast go on a few more dates. Okay, jokes aside, that is interesting how they choose the perfect mates.
About the fish article now, I found the way in which they hunt very interesting. Bats use echolocation to find food and similarly, these fish use an electric field to sense changes in the atmosphere around them and find their food.
The fact that the female fish prefer males with stronger and longer electrical pulses is kind of expected. In the human world, girls tend to like guys with a large amount of muscle mass, low body fat, or even characteristics such as humor so seeing the female fish prefer the 'stronger' males is not a surprise.
What I found most interesting about the yeast article was that yeast cells release pheromones like love songs in order to attract mates. i never really thought about how yeast cells have sex and its actually really cool that they also like to flirt by releasing pheromones. Another fascinating point in this article was that the communication between the cells could be hacked. So a weak male can show a false sexual display to get a female. That kind of reminds me of how some low life guys try to act tough and use girls to get what they want. That's kind of what the yeast cells are doing. The article also stated that yeast cells grow faster when they don't have enough energy to make pheromones. This is kind of like those picky girls that have a list of traits a perfect guy should have. They basically wait their whole life trying to find a perfect guy but if the list didn't exist, she would have had a partner already since there were no concrete expectations for her.
I along with all the other students well most of them was surprised at the topics of this week articles.I found the fish article very interesting, strange at first but nevertheless interesting. When I first looked at the first paragraph I found it weird how like the article said electricity is considered as a harmful but also useful source. I would never have thought that it would have found a use for fishes in this way. However, as the article progressed I became more interested. I particularly found the nocturnal fish idea strange because when the word nocturnal is used a bat springs to mind. Unlike most of the article the part about females being picky did not surprise me like most of the article did. This shows that female fish do not differ much from female humans because this is a characteristic that both species share.
After reading all these articles, I noticed there was a somewhat similar correlation among some of the animals and the fungus regarding their “signals”. First off, in “Gonna Have A Fungal Time” , yeast attract one another by making pheromone. However, to make pheromone can be a big sacrifice, causing them to grow slower and “suffer a 30% drop in their viability” . This scenario depicts how these “signals” that are found attractive are not only flashy but also require a great amount of risk and effort. Likewise, in the article, “When Love Shocks” , mormyrids attract one another with their electric pulses. Usually, though the longer the length of the electric pulse signifies how attractive it is to the females since the male mormyrids put themselves at risk to predators like catfish that also can pick up the signal. Furthermore, a species of birds, for instance, in males, the birds would have a vibrant red dot or a dull dot on their breast, where the birds with the more brighter dot would be more appealing to a female, in my conjecture, because they literally have a red target on them for virtually any predator to see, which has that element risk factor that makes them so appealing to the female birds. Additionally, this phenomenon is kind of true in humans in some cases, where the “badboy” type has some effect on some females. Perhaps animals are actually alike in some ways to an extent however.
Regarding rmcnellis2’s comment, I have to agree that the way the hyperaggresive and aggressive male water striders try to fertilize the eggs of a female is disturbing. The male water strider pounces on the female to hold her in place while she is struggling to get away, going to such lengths, that the male water strider would hold onto her for twelve hours! Even the author, Carl Zimmer, calls this an “unhappy union”! In more positive terms, female water striders can try to avoid the hyperaggressive ones by leaving the group and going to less aggressive male water striders. It must be a popular alternative to female water striders since it seems that “groups of mellow males can have more offspring than groups that contain hyperaggressive water striders”.
I found the article when love shocks most interesting this week! I was amused when I began reading about how electricity can be an essence of desire! I would of never thought that mormyrids had tails that actually produce electric discharges. It is interesting how they use this feature they have to find their mate. I had known that every animal had their own ways of communicating but i found it cool how mormyrids used electric pulses. Overall this article was very amusing.
I found the water strider blues article kind of creepy. "males will use all kinds of force..." I found that strange along with how female species have to get away from male species. When i continued reading the article and got to the part where the male species holds onto the female species as long as he can until she gets away that seemed to me like she was being raped. I found this article very weird and distrubing.
Darwin's idea of sexual selection in animals seems to be accurate. It’s interesting to know that female birds are more attracted to the males with brighter colors than ones with more dull colors. I believe this relates to us partially. Human females seem to go for the "more attractive" looking males but it depends on the female's thoughts of which male are more attractive to them. What I mean is that unlike the bird which seems the brighter the feathers are, the more attractive the bird is, female humans aren't attracted to just one aspect of the male. We are attracted to looks (eye color, body type, etc.) and also personality (shy, crazy, loving, passionate, etc.)and social state (rich, popular, etc.). Zoologists from the Smithsonian Institute studied in the Galapagos Islands where they examined male Fiddler crabs. The males attracted mates by using their physical appearances as well as how well their nests were constructed. Zoologists discovered that most female crabs varied in their choice of mates instead of choosing the larger crab with the better constructed nest. The study resulted in females choosing a mate by personal favorite, just like the humans. Another thought regarding the bright male peacocks tail feathers is the fact that the females will mostly reproduce with the bright feathered males, which means there is a possibility in the future that only the attractive gene of the bright feathers is going to be more prominent due to the females only going after the males with the bright feathers and producing babies that are also going to have bright feathers. It would be nice to find out why female humans are all attracted to different things in men while other animals have a main common 'attractiveness' to a male such as the bright tail feathers.
After reading through all the articles, i see that the most important part of the mating process between animals -similarly to humans, is the initial attraction stage in order to get the others' attention. While some go to great lengths in order to impress the other, some just have the wrong genes and cannot compare to the rest of their species. A good example of this are birds with brightly detailed feathers versus birds with dull, faded feathers. If more females are attracted to the brighter birds, there really is nothing that the other birds can do. Eventually, this becomes natural selection, or sexual selection as stated in the article, and this is the reason certain variations between species slowly deteriorate over time. On another point, being the most attractive male can also have it's downfalls. For one, the brighter the bird, the brighter the target to be hunted. Same goes for the mormyrid males who produce longer pulses of electrcity, with both the chances of attracting more female mormyrids and catfish at the same time. As seen throughout, the goal is to be the most successful in reproducing, so the animals with the stronger traits will be the ones to survive.
After reading Darwin, Sex, and Dada I finally realized how picky women are. In my freshmen bio class we learned about natural selection and how women always wanted men with traits that were beneficial to reproduction or survival. But, in this article women would want to mate with certain males whose traits weren't beneficial to survival or reproduction. It seems all women care about is appearances when it comes to mating. Prum makes an interesting case by saying that most of the traits that men have, that women want serve no essential purpose. If you think about it women dictate the appearance and traits of future population because they pick and choose what males to mate with and what traits they would like to see in offspring. By selecting the traits they would like to see, they are eliminating variation and traits in the gene pool.
When love shocks is a very interesting article. Who ever knew that electricity could be used a way of communication by mormyrids and as a way to locate prey under the depths of the ocean. I was very fascinated by the fact that the electric impulses didn't harm the fish because water and electric currents don't mix very well. The special trait mormyrids have Is kind of like having a two way radio, but between many fish, that helps stay in contact. Also these electric currents are a way for women to know which men want to mate at a specific time. The only downside to this is that fish are putting themselves at risk because some nearby predators could detect them and eat them. None the less the idea of communicating via electric currents is very interesting and productive.
I found the articles ''Gonna Have a Fungal Good Time' and When Love Shocks' to be the most interesting articles.
Both articles touch upon how the two subjects, mormyrid fish and yeast cells, release something in different variations for attraction purposes. Mormyrids use electrical pulses while yeast cells use pheromones however. I was amused by the fact that the attractions between these species were so similar and relative to human situations! For example, the fact that the females of both species go for the stronger pulse or pheromone is similar to when human women go for the more "attractive" man. It was very interesting as I made the different connections to real-life situations!
I thought the most interesting article was "When Love shocks". I've always known that different animals artract each other in different ways,(like what Mark K. said) but I never knew that electricity was one of them. The Mormyrids as stated in the article use electricity to atrract the opposite sex. This electricity is soothing to females and choose their mate carefully through a series of electric waves. Every speicie has there own way to find their perfect one :)
I have noticed with all the articles on animal mating, the males are always the ones with the trait to impress the female, except the yeast, which have no sex. For example, male mormyrids male emit electric pulses to attract females. Females are then the one’s to pursue the relationship. I can’t help but compare this to human society. Historically, females work for hours to look their best. Males are then the ones to pursue the female to get her attention. In essence, a male wooing a female is the equivalent of a female mormyrid head butting a male. Even as our species began, cavemen brought back food to the most beautiful female to increase their chances of mating with them. I wonder how our species changed. How did the female assume the role she has in mating that, in the animal world, is mostly held by males? Of course, today’s society is beginning to change those roles, but essential, it remains the same. Darwin hypothesized that the males with specific traits found attractive to females (i.e. longer electrical pulses) had better success mating, and must have better traits. Darwin, Sex, and Dada question this theory, but whether the traits mean something or not, Darwin noticed it is the male putting on a display for the female. Nature provides us with many examples of females pursuing specific male traits, such as peacocks color or mormymids electric pulses, but few of the reverse.
I agree with most of the other comments; "When Love Shocks" was really the most interesting article. Its surprising to find that female mormyrids actually have the power to attract the male fish by shocking them. This set of electronic waves signal to the male fish that the female fish is interested in him. For this type of fish, its interesting that all males will accept the female fish when they feel the electrical discharge, but the female fish are more picky and choose which male fish they want to mate with.
As for the article about yeast, that was cool! Although I knew yeast is a type of bacteria, and bacteria also have to mate and reproduce, the article really surprised me. First off, yeast cells have pheromones that can "flirt" with other cells. To think that yeast cells have a sex is kind of weird and surprising, but still interesting. However, how scientists figured out yeast cells have different sexes surprises me the most. It's hard to imagine how some scientists find yeast so intriguing when to me, yeast is just something i need when i am baking bread. Well the next time I'm baking bread, I'll be sure to remember that the yeast i'm using have a sex too.
I found this week's articles to be fairly interesting to read. These writings just further make the point that all animals have their own ways of interacting with one another. They way each species mates, among many other things, is what makes us all diverse and unique.
The first article I decided to read was "Water Strider Blues", in which the process and types of mating between male and female water striders is thoroughly discussed. I completely agree with Khari on this one. The method used by aggressive water striders is very similar to that of the everyday rapist. It's sort of funny to think that this behavior/approach to mating is tolerated in the water strider community when us humans ostracize such actions in ours. But besides the differences between us and them, there are also many similarities. Kind of like us human females, female waiter striders also prefer to seek a place to live where males are less aggressive towards them. It always interests me to read about insects and their everyday environment. To us, they are just small little creatures that usually have little importance, yet these insects all have their own lives just like us! It's definitely fascinating thought!
Regarding the article "Darwin, Sex, and Dada", it is actually quite strange to think why us humans find certain qualities beautiful and others not so much. In my opinion, I largely blame the media for that. But I'm pretty sure other animals like monkeys or insects aren't exposed to much of that, so where could this be coming from? Every species puts outer beauty on a pedestal. Whether or not people disagree, appearance is and will always be a primary factor in finding a mate. That's just how it is. But luckily, beauty is in the eye of the beholder! :)
The Water Strider article was quite fascinating yet disturbing at the same time. Species have their own ways of mating and learning about this makes me think about how it would be like to be that creature. It's odd how different yet very similar mating is for a variety of species. When I was reading that the male water strider wraps his legs around the female's midsection and manages to insert his phallus into the female's reproductive tract, I couldn't help but think the same thing as Khari. In fact, it is very similar to a modern day rapist. This aggressive behavior is absolutely absurd and I would have never thought that male water striders did this. Forcing the female water striders is not appropriate, but that's the way they mate and hey, it's their lives. But it's hard to not find it disturbing. I found it interesting that depending on the living situation, either aggressive or hyperaggressive will fare better in the mating game. I feel bad for the females that have to deal with the overbearing males because I can only guess that it's a little too forceful.
I read the Darwin, Sex, and Dada article next and I thought that Darwin's points were pretty accurate. It's not hard to believe that females preferred males with certain traits over other males. Everyone has different preferences so this idea of sexual selection was not at all that surprising. I don't completely agree with the Fisher's idea though that a display, and a female's preference for it, could both be completely arbitrary. I think that preferences are controlled by some thought, and are not completely random, but that is just my opinion. I would love to know the outcome of this research and what really does drive these preferences whether it be controlled or arbitrary.
I am aware that "couple" means to bring two electric circuits together, but it also means a romantic pair. Who knew that mere fish could "couple" electricity and romance. The female morymids have the upper hand because they get to pick whomever they will mate with. However, I find the whole reproduction process a bit strange. Head butting does not sound like the best way to show one's liking for the male, but to each their own I suppose. Why fix something that isn't broken. As for the electric fields produced by the fish, I would like to liken them to their own security systems. Fish are able to sense whenever someone enters their "bubble," and hopefully then attack or escape. I was interested to whether or not catfish )the predators) could produce the electrical impulses as well as the morymids, and so I found this article http://people.virginia.edu/~mk3u/mk_lab/electric_fish_E.htm. Turns out that there are electric catfish and non-electric catfish that can only sense the force fields. From this article I was also able to learn that the fish that can produce longer steams of electricity probably have more electrocytes, and therefore a larger electric organ. This would mean that they were more genetically gifted. This obviously explains why female fish were more attracted to the males that held a longer stream of electricity. Of course this also means that the male is not as scared of the predators and feels confident that he can take on a hunter fish.
Females in most species are the ones that have to choose the mate, and typically have to prove themselves. As evidenced in the article about the morymids, the way males are choosen are usually based on an attactive trait of that male. For example, Male Peacocks have brilliant displays of color and pride shown in their tail feathers. This has been the accepted theory for a long time. females will be more attracted to the males with the "best" traits, and therefore, that male's traits will be passed on to the next generations. However, as shown in the article "Darwin, Sex, and Dada" maybe things aren't so black and white. I found the idea (that maybe some females are extremely picky and will only
mate with males with certain attributes) quite interesting. If one thinks about the "mating" process for humans, it is similar to that of regular animals. Aren't all of us attracted to those with the "best" qualities? Everyone finds attractive celebities beautiful, and everyone likes someone who can hold a good conversation. For humans, the best qualities Which means that with out realizing it, humans also are involved in race to get to the "best" mates. And as for the "null theory" I think that it makes sense. This is my take on it. I think that there are few traits that directly affect females' choices, but most traits are just passed on randomly. Eventually, those traits might become what determines the females' choices.
This week all the articles are about sex. All the articles showed the reader that sex is a important. The article that found the most interesting was When Love Shocks that were about the mormyrids. In the article it showed that the females were attracted to electric pulses that the male fish gave off. It also showed how the scientists were able to replicate the electric pulses and make the females attracted to the machine.This showed that females were attracted to one specific trait in the males.
This shows how women can be attracted to one trait physical trait in guys and that is muscles.
Also in the experiment with yeast the same conclusion of the yeast being attracted to one trait stayed the same.Also in the yeast article it showed that the scientists had found out that it took a lot of energy from the guys to produce the trait.Last in the Darwin article show how some of Darwin's theories still do hold true, not only in the human sense but also in the animal world.
I find it strange that yeast can reproduce in multpile ways. While it can reproduce by simply budding, it can also choose to reproduce sexually. I had no idea that yeast could pick a "mate" to procreate and the idea still baffles me.
It is interesting to know that mating Water Striders are very different from most other organisms. While animals like lions attempt to show off to females in order to win their affection, the male Water Strider attacks the female and more or less forces her into mating with him.
Again, I would like to apologize for this being late; my internet connection was out for over a month.
I would also like to apologize for the late posts as I was out of the country this summer.
Darwin, Sex, and Dada: The thing I found particularly interesting in this article was that Darwin noticed that in many cases, female organisms preferred males with specific traits over others. The first thing I thought of is how this pertains to humans to. I thought of how people prefer those with attractive personalities, characteristics, looks, etc.
Gonna Have A Fungal Good Time: After reading this article, any time I eat any thing with yeast in it, I get grossed out just thinking about this! I had no idea that yeast cells communicate with each other before reproducing. This article also helped answer a question that I had about people who of my religion who don't eat yeast. I asked my parents and they couldn't answer it either. After reading this, I realized it is because of their method of reproducing and their ability to reproduce quickly that some people choose not to harm those organisms.
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