Stauroteuthis syrtensis
Figure from The Deep(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Claire Nouvian.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Yesterday’s discussion of future biological advances that will piss off the religious right had me thinking about other innovations that I expect will happen within a few decades that might just cause wingnuts to freak out. First thing to come to mind is that it will be something to do with reproduction, of course, and it will scramble gender roles and expectations…so, how about modifying men to bear children? It sounds feasible to me. Zygotes are aggressive little parasites that will implant just about anywhere in the coelom — it’s why ectopic pregnancies are a serious problem — so all we need to do there is culture a bit of highly vascularized tissue in the male abdomen that will serve as a secure home for a few months. We’ll have to play some endocrine games, too, which may effect his love life but will also prepare him to lactate post-partum. There’s the minor anatomical problem that the vagina is a unique tissue, and no, the urethra is not homologous or analogous (fortunately; we wouldn’t want to have to push an 8 pound baby through the penis, even if female hyenas can manage it) — but that’s what c-sections are for. Given money, time, and a few weird volunteers, it could be done.
The next question is, has it been done? Are there any other vertebrates that have males doing the hard work of pregnancy? There were the gastric brooding frogs, which one would think could have made the leap easily — the eggs were just swallowed and developed in the stomach — but only the mothers seemed to have done the job. They’re all extinct, anyway. Male frogs of the genus Rhinoderma brood their young in their mouths, but this is after external fertilization and development, so they’re actually simply holding larvae in a safe place — and they’re also endangered. The precedents aren’t promising.
There is an extremely interesting and successful example, though: the syngnathid fishes, sea horses and pipefish. In all 232 species, the female lays her eggs in a specialized male structure called the brood pouch, where they are fertilized and develop. It’s a true male pregnancy!
If it existed, it might also be profoundly autistic and … diabetic? So science cannot disprove the existence of a soul, but one thing we’re learning is how much valued human properties such as love and attachment and awareness of others are a product of our biology — emotions like love are an outcome of chemistry, and can’t be separated from our meaty natures.
The latest issue of BioEssays has an excellent review of the role of the hormone oxytocin in regulating behaviors. It highlights how much biochemistry is a determinant of what we regard as virtues.
Wonderpus is a spectacular cephalopod that has appeared a few times on the Friday Cephalopod. How can you forget an octopus with this kind of psychedelic color?
Now a reader has sent me a link to the formal taxonomic description of Wunderpus photogenicus, and we can get more details on this beautiful animal.
Figure from The Deep(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Claire Nouvian.
from Kim Reisenbichler © MBARI 1995
If you’ve got a reasonably robust gut, you might be able to handle following this link to a movie showing the intimate relationship between a man and his botfly larvae.
If you can’t appreciate the beauty of large maggots, well, no, you might not want to click. Really. I am not to blame if you disregard my recommendation.
Here is an excellent article on the biology of sexual orientation. We all know this is a contentious issue — are we born with an orientation, or is it a ‘choice’ that people make? — and the article just lays the facts out for us and points out some of the lacunae in our knowledge.
Two new Homo fossils are described in this week’s Nature, and here they are.
Some two-bit publicity hound can die, and that’s all you can find on any of the television channels … a whole grand species can go extinct, and there’s almost nothing.
Say goodbye to the Yangtze River dolphin. It is officially extinct. The funeral will be poorly attended, and it will be forgotten, except in a few academic papers.
