Arts No free lunches when it comes to bat sex
Here’s a fun AP story the Seattle PI ran today:
A research team led by Syracuse University biologist Scott Pitnick found that in bat species where the females are promiscuous, the males boasting the largest testicles also had the smallest brains. Conversely, where the females were faithful, the males had smaller testes and larger brains.“Bats invest an enormous amount in testis, and the investment has to come from somewhere. There are no free lunches,” said David Hoskens [a biologist at the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter in England and a leading authority on bats’ mating behavior.]
The study found that in more monogamous species, the average male brain size was about 2.6 percent of body weight, while in promiscuous species, the average size dipped to 1.9 percent.
Which begs the question: Are humans considered a monogamous species? And may I get brains with my testicles?
I wish I was a leading authority on bats' mating behavior.