[CupCake]

Last night I happened to catch a really interesting segment on PBS about the mating behaviors of cuttlefish. Cuttlefish gather by the thousands to mate around reefs, females lurking near the bottom while males fight each other above. Strangely, some male cuttlefish alter their body shape to appear female. Doing so helps them avoid confrontations with males while they sneak in and hit up the females below.

Strangely, cuttlefish females actually inseminate themselves after courtship; males only hand off a sperm packet which the female stores in her body. The males have no control over the sperm selection process.

Scientists have actually done paternity tests to discover which males have the highest success rates. It turns out that only 30% or so of males taking the usual aggressive tactic actually succeed, while 70% of the "cross-dressing" cuttles get their genes passed on. The scientists speculated that intelligence was being more highly valued than strength.

Fascinating creatures.

Surely we can learn from the wisdom of our animal cousins. What interesting animal mating behaviors have you discovered? Is there anything valuable that we can learn from them?

[Ugg]

The fact that we are one among many groups and types of animals is enough to get you ahead of the curve reflectively and analytically.

This particular observation is interesting. My habit is to treat fragments of observation carefully--usually you need a full portrait to really get a feel for what's really going on, as opposed to a few statistics.

[Moma]

I have learned if you have a capacity to look lean and powerful physically, I strong implore you to max out this capacity as this helps greatly in securing women for sex.

This ties into the animal world, the strongest survive. If you have a scrawny body by nature, then go for something else.

[ManAbout]

I wonder if they sit there and divide their age by 2 and then add 7 to see if the female cuttlefish is age appropriate before they pass on their sperm packet.

[wi30]

(07-14-2011 05:10 PM)ManAbout Wrote:  

I wonder if they sit there and divide their age by 2 and then add 7 to see if the female cuttlefish is age appropriate before they pass on their sperm packet.

haha. love it

[CJ]

If you're suggesting cross dressing to pick up girls, I'm not sure that's gonna work, or something I'd be willing to try...

You can learn tons of things from animals though. I think the cuttlefish are teaching us that it is important to stay focused on the prize, instead of trying to just compete physically/directly with your rivals.

Part of the reason I don't 100% subscribe to the Mystery Method, is I think 'peacocking' is retarded, and I try not to stand out. I let my vibe, words and actions stand out instead of some piece of clothing. Perhaps, that is another theory the cuttlefish is teaching.

If there's any major concept you can learn from animals though, it's to keep things simple. Animals just go for it, they don't get all worked up, study books, worry about rejection, need 3 shots of tequila to make their first approach, they just say, "fuck it, I'm horny" and make their move.

[samsamsam]

I am watching some shit on Discovery Channel and though the info isn't new to me, but now mixed with RVF and my new learnings I find nature pretty interesting.

1) Usually it is the males who are very attractive and the females are nothing more than large incubators of eggs or babies
2) Though the males are the more attractive - the females still generally get to choose their mate - so the males have to earn the pussy by being the most noticeable/colorful/loudest
3) The female often kills the male (insects) - which sucks. Usually, after mating. But in case of the jumping spider - male can get killed for flirting badly

I will admit, just a bit of a random post - some similarities with us, I guess. Females may not kill (literally) but they do seem to enjoy shooting down men. And their value declines when they are no longer able to reproduce. I imagine there is some correlation to fertility and beauty - when they start hitting the wall it is generally harder for them to reproduce (not a doctor so just an observation).

[Architekt]

(06-30-2013 02:51 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  

I am watching some shit on Discovery Channel and though the info isn't new to me, but now mixed with RVF and my new learnings I find nature pretty interesting.

1) Usually it is the males who are very attractive and the females are nothing more than large incubators of eggs or babies
2) Though the males are the more attractive - the females still generally get to choose their mate - so the males have to earn the pussy by being the most noticeable/colorful/loudest
3) The female often kills the male (insects) - which sucks. Usually, after mating. But in case of the jumping spider - male can get killed for flirting badly

I will admit, just a bit of a random post - some similarities with us, I guess. Females may not kill (literally) but they do seem to enjoy shooting down men. And their value declines when they are no longer able to reproduce. I imagine there is some correlation to fertility and beauty - when they start hitting the wall it is generally harder for them to reproduce (not a doctor so just an observation).

Old thread you dug up, there...

1) Mothers gon' mother. They are designed for the purpose of raising the babies they pop out, not much else.
2) Following 1), the males need to display their ability to do everything else
3) The human equivalent of this is "divorce rape"

[samsamsam]

I know it was old, but I didn't need Tuth or any other moderators up my butt about not using the search function lol. JK tuth - no ban please!

[Kabal]

I've always been interested in the mating systems of human's closest relatives, due to the implications it has for humans--ranging from the very polygynous gorillas to the monogamous gibbons.

Sexual dimorphism is huge in the former, and lacking in the latter.

On a side note, the common side-blotched lizard is rather interesting:

Quote:

It is notable for having a unique form of polymorphism wherein each of the three different male morphs utilizes a different strategy in acquiring mates. The three morphs compete against each other following a pattern of rock, paper, scissors, where one morph has advantages over another but is outcompeted by the third.

...

Orange-throated males are “ultradominant”. They are the largest and most aggressive morph, defending relatively large (about 100 m2 or 120 yd2) territories and keeping harems of females with which they mate. They are adept at stealing mates from blue-throated individuals, but are vulnerable to cuckoldry by the yellow-throated female mimics.[1] Orange-throated males also have significantly reduced yearly survival rates compared to the other two morphs.[12]

Blue-throated males are "dominant". They are intermediate in terms of physical size, and guard smaller territories containing only a single female. As they only have one mate to defend, they are better at catching yellow-throated sneaks, but are also susceptible to having their mates stolen by the larger, more aggressive orange-throated males.[1]

Yellow-throated males are “sneakers”. Their coloration is similar to that of sexually mature females, and they typically mimic female “rejection” displays when they encounter dominant orange- or blue-throated males. Unlike the other morphs, yellow-throated males do not hold territories. Instead, they have wide-reaching home ranges that may overlap with several other lizards’ territories.[1][12] They rely on their mimicry to sneak matings with unattended females. This is more easily achieved among the harems kept by orange-throated males than by the single, closely guarded mate of the blue-throated males. Though orange-throated males have the highest mortality rates, yellow-throated males have higher relative rates of posthumous fertilization (posthumous birth), indicating an increased reliance on sperm competition as part of their reproductive strategy.[2] Yellow-throated males can in specific instances transform into blue-throated males over the course of the breeding season. This transformation is usually triggered by the death of a nearby dominant male, and the blue patches the yellow-throated males develop is qualitatively distinct from the blue patches of genetically blue-throated males. Not all yellow-throated males transform, but when they do, they give up their female mimicry and adopt the “dominant” morph's behavior pattern. No transformations in the other direction, in which dominant males gain yellow-throat coloration, have been observed.[12]