WEBVTT - What are the Strangest Mating Habits in the Animal Kingdom? 0:00:02.200 --> 0:00:04.440 I guess what will what's that? Mango? So I was 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:07.280 reading the story in the New Yorker about tennis grunts, 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:09.160 and as you know, I'm a tennis fan, and we've 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.160 already talked about how grunting can help a player hit harder. 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:14.920 I like how we've talked about tennis grunting multiple times. 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:17.040 I do remember this fact that actually there is a 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.960 slight advantage to grunting when you hit, because it, I 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:22.040 guess it kind of muffles the sound of the ball 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:25.040 hitting the racket, so you don't know the precise moment 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:27.600 when it hits. Right. Yeah, that's right. But the article 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:31.479 was about something slightly different. So apparently this researcher published 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:34.160 a paper on how just by studying the grunts during 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:36.879 a game, you can actually predict which opponent is going 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:39.760 to win. And the researcher came up with this massive 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:43.440 taxonomy of grunts, and he analyzed the tones and the pitches, 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.120 and he came up with the system that actually beat 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:49.600 Bookie's best guesses. But what was most interesting was that 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:52.879 the researcher published this paper in a journal called Animal Behavior. 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:55.400 And you only came to the conclusion because it mimicked 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:58.640 what he was studying in Red male deer like the 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:01.160 deer actually face off in this grunt match where they 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:03.280 bark at each other from a few feet away, and 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.640 it's what the New York referred to as a volley 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:09.399 of roars. But as one starts becoming more dominant, the 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:12.680 others grunts weaken and get thinner, and eventually they lose 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.200 the match and the opportunity to make that's so funny. 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:18.200 So but it works the same way in tennis or what. Yeah, basically, 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:20.360 so when the grunting is stronger, you can tell which 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:22.840 player is controlling the game. But the whole story made 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:25.840 me think, like, why do male dear use grunting at 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:27.920 one another is a way to win the maids affections? 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:30.880 And why don't they do dances or something we're creative 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:34.360 like build things? And what exactly are the strangest courtship 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:58.400 tricks in the animal Kingdom? So let's dive in, say 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:01.000 their podcast listeners, welcome to part I'm genius, I'm Will 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:02.880 Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good friend 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:05.560 Manesh Ticketer. And on the other side of the soundproof 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:09.240 glass drafting. What is that a Craigslist at in search 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:13.160 of a skydiving partner. That's our friend, the producer, Tristan McNeil. 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:15.200 And if that sounds like a weird way to find 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:17.680 a companion, well, I think you're right. It is a 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:21.360 weird way. Well, in his defense, Tristan's flann was inspired 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:24.200 by the mating habits of bald eagles. So bald eagles 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:26.360 actually used a special kind of skydiving when they're testing 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:29.840 out potential mates. So first the love birds fly super high, 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:33.080 and then they lock their talents together and start tumbling 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:35.640 and cartwheeling towards the ground. This is a move that 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:40.440 researchers actually referred to as the death spiral. The death spiral. Yeah, 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:42.000 so it gives you an idea of the stakes, and 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:44.480 the birds mostly let go before they hit the ground. 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:46.640 But the whole thing is a test that the eagles 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:49.760 can judge each other's fitness and whether they're good enough 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:52.400 for each other to be a match, and if they are, 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:54.720 they'll actually mate for life and they won't have to 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:58.320 do this sort of dating technique thing again the next year. Wait, though, 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:00.840 I'm back to Tristan, like, is that what he's basing 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:04.200 his plan on or what I think? So? And It's 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:06.640 why maya motto is always never take dating advice from 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:09.200 birds of prey. That's pretty good advice there, Mango. Well, 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:11.480 you know, the animal kingdom is full of plenty of 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:16.520 other equally dangerous and complex or just downright bizarre mating habits. 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:19.079 You know, you think about like the fist pumping fiddler 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.480 crabs to the O. C. D. Bower birds. It's it's 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:24.400 a wild world out there when it comes to the 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:27.160 animal love lives. And so with that in mind, we 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:29.560 thought it'd be fond to devote an entire episode to 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:32.639 some of the weirdest and most surprising courtships from all 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:35.120 kinds of different species. So we'll look at all the 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:38.760 biological reasons behind each animal's preferred method of attraction and 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:41.040 who knows, maybe we'll pick up a few tips along 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:44.280 the way. Well probably not for these first year, because 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:46.600 I thought we could follow Tristan's lead and get some 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:48.840 of the scarier mating habits out of the way first. 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.160 And if you look into it, there are actually a 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:53.400 lot of those. So humans have the luxury of thinking 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:56.880 of sex and positive and pretty pleasurable terms, but for 0:03:57.000 --> 0:04:00.320 most other animals, sex is strictly for survival where creating 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:03.200 offspring is really the only goal, and many of the 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:06.600 tactics for getting there tend to be pretty unpleasant. So 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:09.360 there's this bilogist, Karen Bonder, and this is how she 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:12.680 put it. From bugs to mammals and everything in between. 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:17.200 The scene is set for violence, conflict, and war. There's 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:21.480 no champagne, no roses. So on that note, where do 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:23.160 you want to start? Well, I don't know if I 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:25.359 want to talk about war, but I do want to 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.239 start with Arabian camels. Now, these are the one humped 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:30.840 camels that you'll find mainly in the deserts of like 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.160 the Middle East and in Africa. And while they do 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:36.479 have all kinds of cool ways to help their bodies 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.560 retain water and beat that scorching heat where they live, 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.000 the males of the species also have this really gross 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:45.640 adaptation that they use just to let the lady camels 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:48.880 know they're in the mood. So I like the word gross. 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:52.960 Go on, Well, it's called a dulla and it's basically 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.920 this inflatable air sack in the male camel's throat. So 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:59.320 when one of these guys is ready to make they'll 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:02.279 puff up a dollar and once it's nice and big. 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:05.360 They flop it out of the side of their mouth 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:08.320 for all the females to see. How did I not 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:10.719 see one of these things before? Until we were doing 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:12.920 the research for this episode? Had you seen one before? 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.279 And the thing is just nasty, Like, it's pink and 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:19.640 slimy and definitely doesn't look like something you'd want hanging 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:22.920 out of your boyfriend's mouth on thing, But apparently that's 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:26.320 what camels are into. I mean, that does sound disgusting, 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:28.440 But is that where it ends? Like, do they just 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:30.839 fluff this gross airstack out of the mounds and then 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:34.960 just the ladies come running, Well, you'd think, but actually 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:38.480 it's just the beginning. So once they're dollars are inflated, 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:42.320 the Arabian camels start gurgling their spit to produce this deep, 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:45.960 low mating sound. And this gurgling gets so intense that 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:49.320 the camels start foaming at the mouth, which is of 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:52.320 course just like that makes their dullars that much grosser. 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:55.200 But if that isn't enough to catch a lady camel's eye, 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:57.680 the males will then you know, they use use a 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:00.360 good trick. They pee on their tails and the wave 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:02.560 them around to spread their pharomones through the air. It's 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.800 just beautiful. Yeah, I mean, they seem like a bunch 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:08.880 of Casanova's. But it does remind me of male hooded 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:12.320 seals and how they inflate this special part of their 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:14.520 nostrils to attract a mate. So you know what I'm 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.839 talking about. I know what you're talking about. Yeah, I mean, 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:20.320 it's that part of the nasal membrane that's actually called 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:22.640 the hood, and that's what gives the seals their names. 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.520 And when they blow it up to full size, it 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:29.440 looks like a big foot long pink bubble just sticking 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:32.320 out of their nose and it is so gross. I mean, 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.800 it's also amazing that, like so many different species would 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:39.359 be attracted to having like giant skin blooms from your face. 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.080 It's just so weird. But but speaking of things erupting 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:45.840 out of faces, that's just apparently what we're doing here today. 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:50.920 Have you ever heard of the emay mustache toad? I haven't, 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:53.760 but I love this idea of like little toads with 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:57.279 handled bar mustaches. Well that would be much cuter than 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:00.560 what this thing actually does. So for one at the year, 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:04.120 all the male email toads grow a row of extremely 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:07.440 sharp facial spikes and these all are just above their mouth, 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.680 and these spikes are tough enough that they grow straight 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.760 through the toad skin. They're actually made of keratin, which 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:16.080 is the same substance that our fingernails are made out of. 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:19.440 But the best part about these spiky whiskers is their name. 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:22.960 Scientists refer to these as nuptial spines, which is just 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:25.840 so sweet, don't you think? Maybe? I mean, I feel 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:27.520 like I don't know enough about them to judge them 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:30.120 some What are they doing with these nuptial spines? Well, 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:33.160 they're really for defense more than anything else. And if 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.760 you think about breeding season, it can be pretty competitive 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:37.920 for a lot of animals, and of course these toads 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:40.920 are no exception of that. So the males will frequently 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:44.120 fight each other for the best nesting sites and these 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.280 nuptial spines are their weapon of choice. So basically, the 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:50.040 toads try to get their spikes underneath an opponent so 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:53.040 they can flip him over. And the spikes are really 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:55.360 well suited for this, and if any of them are 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:58.600 broken off during a tussle, they actually just grow right back. 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:01.640 And then once the breeding season is over, they all 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:05.080 fall off naturally. That's crazy. Yeah, I mean I do 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:07.960 like this idea of just watching these tiny frogs poke 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:10.720 at each other with their mustache just for the right 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:12.840 to mate with a woman, just being a lady toe 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.000 and be like they're doing that for me, just spiking 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:18.640 each other. It's pretty amazing. So it's being a weird 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:22.760 habits that. There's this tiny marsupial in Australia. It's called 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:25.760 the antagonists, and they kind of look like a mix 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:28.160 between a rat and a mole, and they go through 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:32.760 an absolutely excruciating breeding process. It's actually called speed mating, 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:36.280 which makes it sound cooler than it actually is. But basically, 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.120 every year around springtime, all the males go into this 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:42.440 testosterone fueled frenzy and for the next two or three 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:45.320 weeks they just mate around the clock. Like this is 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.920 an exaggeration, Like these guys stop eating, stop sleeping, They 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.000 just go from partner to partner. They spend fourteen hours 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.320 straight with each one is as just a crazy board. 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:56.120 I mean, how do they sustain that kind of pace? 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:58.000 You think all the males would just keel over at 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:01.160 some point. So that's the thing they do, Like all 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:04.800 the adult males were born after the premis mating season, 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:07.640 but not a single one of them is going to 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:10.920 live that full twelve months. Like they literally made themselves 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:13.240 to death. And it's during that two or three week 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:17.240 vendor and it is grizzly to their fur falls out, 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:21.560 they go blind, they get these internal bruisings and uh, 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:24.400 and then they just keep on mating. Ultimately, it's the 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:27.600 male's testosterone levels, which are just sky high that kind 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.040 of proves that I'm doing And this is how Wired 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:33.360 breaks it down. Quote. While the testosterone mobilizes all the 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.640 sugars and the antagonist's body so it doesn't need to 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:39.320 feed for the three week orgy, it also glitches the 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:43.160 mechanism response both regulating the production of cortisol, a stress hormone. 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:45.959 Then small amounts results in bursts of energy and higher 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:50.160 paid intolerances. With runaway levels of cortisol, though, the male's 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:54.320 bodies literally begin to fall apart, bone density plummets, blood 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:57.840 sugar levels go nuts, their immune systems essentially degrade to 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:01.400 worthlessness as open source form and never heal. Of course, 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:03.520 females are also quite stressed during all of this, but 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:06.439 they don't produce anywhere near the same levels of testosterone, 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:10.440 so their cortisol regulation remains normal well, and then the females, 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:13.200 if they survive, which I guess most of them do, 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:15.320 they have to go through that nightmare all over again 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:17.679 the next year. So yeah, it seems pretty rough for 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:20.920 all involved. Yeah, I mean, the one good thing is 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:22.240 that they do get a little bit of peace and 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:24.640 quiet once that year's crops of males have all died out. 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:26.680 You know, the females get to catch up on some 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:29.160 rest and then like a few weeks into the spring, 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:31.440 the forest filled with insects for them to feast on. 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:33.960 And you know, now that half the population has gone, 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:37.160 it's just easier to eat. It's clearly not a perfect 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:39.880 system though. In fact, there was this one ecologist named 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:42.520 Andrew Baker who recently said, quote, if you have to 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:45.560 sit down and design a reproductive system, you wouldn't come 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:48.480 up with this one. It's the only option they've gone 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:50.480 for carrying on the species. So you know, what are 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.160 you gonna do? I think stay away from Australia during 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:56.320 mating season. Pretty bizarre, all right? Well, My next Gary 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:59.280 animal courtship belongs to the angler fish, and this is 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:02.280 another one of the males willingly destroy themselves for the 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:05.600 sake of breeding, but it's a much more gradual destruction 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:07.800 in this case, and the females definitely come out the 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:10.160 clear winners on this one. So I actually think I've 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.400 heard of this one. It's where the males are like parasites, right, 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:15.880 that's right, And to be specific, we're talking about a 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:19.520 particular suborder of the angler fish. These are the serratioids, 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:22.560 and they account for only twenty five or so of 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:26.520 the hundred and sixty known species of deep sea anglers. Now, 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:29.400 the females belonging to the suborder just look like what 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:31.679 you think of when you picture an angler fish. You've 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:34.840 got those huge mouths full of those needle like teeth, 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:38.000 and that long curved stalk with a glowing tip to 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:40.720 light the way for the smaller, unlucky fish. It's just 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.679 amazing to look at those things. Evolution and action of 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:47.800 just unbelievable. But the male serratioids don't look like this 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:51.600 at all. There's no needle teeth, no hanging lantern, and 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:54.559 the weirdest thing of all, they are about sixty times 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:58.440 smaller than the female. Sixty times. Yeah. So, in fact, 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.400 in the nineteenth century, one signed has first started classifying 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:05.120 the ratioids. They only worked with the female specimens because 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:07.960 they didn't even recognize the males as belonging to the 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:11.960 same species. It was this big scientific mystery, like where 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:14.600 are all the males? And it wasn't until the mid 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:18.440 nineteen twenties that scientists realized what was going on. And 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.360 that was when one researcher finally decided to dissect these 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:24.000 smaller fish that were attached to the side of the 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:26.840 female angler fish. And as it turned out, the male 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:29.640 fish were right under their noses the whole time. They've 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:34.120 just been either ignored or misclassified. So I'm fascinated by this, 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:36.000 like how exactly did the males get attached to the 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:38.199 females and are they just kind of stuck there on 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:40.680 the sides? Yeah. So, so the way that works is 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:43.200 that the male angler starts to hunt for a mate 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:46.920 by following this very species specific pheromone that the females 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:50.400 give off. And the males actually have the biggest nostrils 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:53.160 in proportion to their heads of any other animal on 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:55.400 the planet, so they at least have that bragging drive 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:58.320 and so they're well equipped for this job, and apparently 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:02.240 only one percent of these else ratioids ever actually find 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:06.160 a female tonight with hard to believe. So for the 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:08.600 lucky few who do find a mate, the next step 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:12.840 is to bite into her belly and on for dear life. 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.080 So then, over time, the male's body fuses with the 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:19.440 female to the point that their skin actually joins together, 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:22.280 and so do their blood vessels. It's the weirdest thing. 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:24.960 And then at this point the male is pretty much 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:28.400 set like he's a total deadweight. He doesn't need to see, 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:32.040 or swim or even eat like a normal fish anymore. 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:36.560 All his nutrients come directly from his mate's blood. And 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:39.280 so pretty soon all the organs the male doesn't really 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:42.400 use anymore, they just start to wither away. Now we're 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:44.959 not talking about like all these internal organs. We're talking 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:49.080 about eyes, fins of course, the internal organs everything. And 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:52.240 so you've basically got this little lump that just feeds 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:55.280 off the female in exchange for providing sperm whenever she's 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.040 ready to spawn. And it does remind me there's there's 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:00.520 one friend from college that I think fits this description, 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:04.600 might be Yes, Yes, that is really so creepy, and 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:07.679 and I'm guessing stratias are pretty much monogamous, right, Like, 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:11.679 like this fusing mating process doesn't seem like it's reversible. 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.119 I guess you could say that the males are monogamous, 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:16.439 because yeah, there's no going back for them once all 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:19.320 of your organs and basic and your eyes are no 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:22.640 longer there. But anyway, it's probably because of how slim 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:24.920 their chance of finding a mate is to begin with, 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:28.560 So if they do manage to find somebody, they're literally 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:31.320 not going to ever let go. But the females are 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:33.000 a different case. I mean, they actually live up to 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:35.680 like thirty years or so, so once a male has 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.000 been completely absorbed and can no longer supply a steady 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:42.080 stream of sperm, the females might collect several more over 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:44.880 the course of their lifetime. I mean, the more we 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:46.760 talk about this, the more it just sounds like straight 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:49.920 out of a horror movie or something. Actually, I came 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:52.920 across this great quote about how unbelievable this all sounds. 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:55.200 And this was from a naturalist named Willie Beebe, and 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:57.960 he wrote this back in nineteen thirty eight, And this 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:01.040 was after the truth about this bizarre maiding habit finally 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:03.400 had been brought to light. And here's what he had 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:06.160 to say about it. To be driven by impelling odor 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:09.560 headlong upon a mate so gigantic in such immense and 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:13.720 forbidding darkness, and willfully eat a hole in her soft side, 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:17.680 to feel the gradually increasing transfusion of her blood through 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:21.200 one's veins, To lose everything that marked one as other 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:24.920 than a worm, to become a brainless, senseless thing that 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:28.560 was a fish. This is sheer fiction, beyond all belief 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:31.240 unless we have seen proof of it. Well, it's a 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:34.160 very romantic process. But what do you say we switch 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:36.760 gears and cover some of the sweeter, more thoughtful ways 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:39.000 the animals used to find meat. That sounds like a 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:40.960 nice change of pace. Mego. But first, let's take a 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:59.560 quick break. You're listening to Part Time Genius and we're 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:02.480 talking about the softer side of animal courtships. Okay, well, 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:05.240 so earlier you told us about the nuptial spines, and 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:07.080 now I think it's my turn to tell you about 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:10.440 something called nuptial gifts. You know, the word nuptial is 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:12.640 coming up a lot more than I would have expected. 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:14.200 But all right, what kind of wedding gifts are we 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:17.440 talking about? Here, so it varies from species to species 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:20.400 because all animals have, you know, different sort of ideas 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:23.800 of gift giving, but insects in particular are big un 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:27.600 nuptial gifts. So male hang flies, for instance, attract their 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:29.760 mates by hanging from the underside of a leaf while 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:33.040 dangling some captured prey from their back legs, and the 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:35.680 interested females the land on the underside of the leaf 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:38.800 and hang the same way the men do, and then 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.080 they lower their wings to signal for the mail to 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:44.080 present the gift. And once the male holds the captured 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:47.200 insect up to her, the female inspects his size and 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:49.640 if she thinks the gift is large enough, she'll stick 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:52.280 around after dinner to mate. But if the gift isn't 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:54.280 up to snuff, then she'll just drop off the leaf 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:56.800 and head to the next one. I mean, I'm curious that, 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:59.920 like our nuptial gifts always some form of like captured 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.200 prey or our animals interested in other kinds of presence 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:05.240 or what what are they looking for? Ye and food 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:07.399 is probably one of the most common nuptial gifts in 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:10.320 the animal kingdom. Apart from insects, plenty of birds also 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:12.240 offer food as a part of courtship, and and this 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:13.879 mainly is a way for the male to show that 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:16.600 he's physically fit and that he's off for the challenge 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:19.240 of providing nutrition for their offspring, you know, if the 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:21.919 female cheese is to mate with him. But sometimes the 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:25.479 presentation is lacking, like, uh, you know that there's this 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:28.560 bird called the great gray shrike and it lives on 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:31.240 a lot of different northern regions, And as nat Geo 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:35.280 puts it, male shrikes impale their prey on thorns, creating 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:39.199 a mouse kebab of sorts. Females survey the options and 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:42.480 go for the mail with the media skewer. I mean, 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:44.639 I guess they get some points for creativity if you 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:46.320 want to look at it that way. Yeah, and people 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:50.359 obviously love kebab, so why should you know? I do 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:52.320 want to get back to the insect world for a minute, 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:55.360 because bugs can be just as resourceful as birds when 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:58.280 presenting their nuptial gifts. Like I was reading about how 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:01.359 male fireflies don't just rabbed the nearest prey and handed 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:04.200 over to the mats. Instead, they actually make their own 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:07.639 little nutrient rich bundles and they use a bunch of 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:12.320 specialized glands designed specifically for giftmaking. That's wild. And did 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:14.119 you get a sense of what these bundles are made of? 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:16.640 I mean, I assume it's gross, whatever the answer is, Yeah, 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:19.639 it definitely is. But you know, researchers have actually dissected 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:22.520 these nuptial gifts and they've run all sorts of genetic 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:25.160 tests on them, and it turns out the gooey little 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:28.399 bundles are packed with more than two hundred different proteins, 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:31.280 which is kind of wild when you remember that, like 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.560 it all came from a male firefly. But what's even 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:37.399 more impressive are some of the highly specific jobs that 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:40.240 these proteins do. So for instance, some of the compounds 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:42.840 would like prompt the female to produce more eggs. Some 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.760 of them increase the efficacy of the male sperm. There's 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:49.160 even this one toxic chemical in there that apparently makes 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:52.399 firefly eggs taste terrible. I haven't checked on this to 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:56.120 composer myself, but you know, it's obviously helpful for protecting 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:59.800 eggs from predators and it is all super effective. In fact, 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:02.679 the search team that broke down the ingredient list also 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:06.480 found that female fireflies who consume nuptial gifts ultimately produce 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:09.840 more eggs throughout their lifetime, and they even live longer too. 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:11.639 And of course this works out well for the males 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:14.120 as well, you know, because the ones who produce larger 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:16.600 gifts tend to have more offspring. I mean, I kind 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:19.000 of wish there was an animal that gave gifts kind 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:20.520 of like we do, you know, like something that's just 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:23.680 a show of affection and not really useful on its own. 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:27.280 So I'm curious or all of these animals giving like 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:29.720 useful types of gifts, or did you come across any 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:31.280 of that were just like for fun or is a 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:33.879 sign of affection. So it's funny you should say that, 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:35.879 because I was actually looking for that as well, and 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:39.400 I found The male humpback dolphin does this. So once 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:41.960 they find a female they like, the male will dive 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:43.800 deep to the bottom of the ocean and search for 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:46.359 the biggest marine sponge he could find, and then he 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:48.920 balances that sponge on his rostrum, which is the word 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:52.040 for that beak like snout dolphins have, and he'll bring 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:53.840 it up the surfaces and finally toss it over to 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:56.159 the girl. He has his eye on rostrum I never 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:58.200 knew what that word was. And so is this something 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:00.160 that happens often? Like, it's not just a one off 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:02.639 kind of thing. So that's what I was wondering too. 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:05.639 And and there's actually a study last year from researchers 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:08.720 at the University of Western Australian Perth, and they observed 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:12.800 male humpbacked dolphins presenting sponges seventeen different times along a 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:16.879