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All posts with the tag "Scientific literature" are written by referring to the primary literature.
Tag Archives: evolution
Absence makes the genitalia grow weirder
Evolution loves penises. How else do you explain all the crazy penis shapes out there? Por ejemplo (slightly nsfw): the corkscrew duck penis, the spiny cat and chimp members, the sci-fi-esque spiked penis of a seed beetle, the 4-headed penis of … Continue reading
To get sperm, female mosses attract microarthropods with sexy smells
Way back, before mosses and their brethren evolved, all sex happened in the water. This made things pretty easy for plants and other species that don’t have fancy internal fertilization like us. All they had to do was let their … Continue reading
Sex or no sex, that is the question
There are pros and cons to everything in life, and sex is no exception. From an evolutionary biology standpoint, sex is a compromise (which may explain why so many of our lawmakers seem to be against it). Reproducing asexually means … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution of sex
Tagged asexual, evolution, Fission, Planaria, Red Queen, Scientific literature, worms
2 Comments
Dynein proteins give fly sperm a competitive edge
Every species has some genes that never existed before in evolutionary history, but where do new genes come from? Many new genes are made by copy-and-paste: old genes get copied, rearranged and pasted together with parts of other genes, plus … Continue reading
Worms do it, mice do it: eggs destroy sperm mitochondria
Everyone knows that you get half your genes from your mom and half from your dad. But that’s not the whole story. You also get another kind of DNA, mitochondrial DNA, that only comes from Mom. Men have mitochondria, too, … Continue reading
Posted in Eggs and sperm
Tagged autophagy, evolution, fertilization, mice, mitochondria, Scientific literature, sperm, worms
2 Comments
