animal reproduction

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Man Films Bat Sex in Church, Makes Surprise Discovery
Man Films Bat Sex in Church,
Makes Surprise Discovery
in case you missed it
Nov 25, 2023 2:15 PM CST

Man Films Bat Sex in Church, Makes Surprise Discovery

Serotine bat thought to be only known mammal to have sex without penetration

(Newser) - There was a lot of sex happening in the church attic—but without humans and, weirdly, without penetration. Indeed, as scientists describe in a new study, it was the first time a mammal—specifically, the serotine bat native to Europe and Asia—was documented reproducing without penetrative sex. Scientists had...

Getting Hot Flashes? Commiserate With a Chimp
Getting Hot
Flashes?
Commiserate
With a Chimp
NEW STUDY
Oct 27, 2023 12:06 PM CDT

Getting Hot Flashes? Commiserate With a Chimp

These primates go through menopause just like humans, some whales, researchers say

(Newser) - Female humans aren't the only mammals known to go through menopause, then live for many years after—some whale species also undergo the process, which is when menstruation stops for good. Now, in what the Washington Post calls a "landmark discovery," researchers say chimpanzees have also joined...

2 Reasons Why This Python's 7 Eggs Are Totally Weird

First, she's 62 years old. Second, she hasn't been near a male python for 2 decades

(Newser) - A 62-year-old ball python surprised experts at the St. Louis Zoo by laying seven eggs, despite not being near a male python for at least two decades. Mark Wanner, manager of herpetology at the zoo, says it's unusual but not unheard of for ball pythons to reproduce asexually. The...

World's Oldest Known Wild Bird Will Make All Other Moms Genuflect

Baby No. 37 is on its way for Wisdom the albatross, 68

(Newser) - Dear tired moms of the world: Meet Wisdom, whose dozens of young ones are about to gain another sibling. The Guardian notes that while it may indeed seem "preposterous" for a 68-year-old human to still be having kids, it's apparently different for some birds, including this Laysan albatross...

After Years Without Mate, Shark Makes Her Own Babies

It's the first time a shark has switched from sexual to asexual reproduction

(Newser) - Australia's Reef HQ aquarium had hoped to scale back its shark breeding program. Its female sharks had other ideas. Over the course of six years, Leonie the zebra or leopard shark had produced more than two dozen offspring before she was separated from her mate in 2012. But in...

Zika Virus Ravages Testicles of Male Mice
Zika Virus Ravages
Testicles of Male Mice
NEW STUDY
Nov 1, 2016 7:05 AM CDT

Zika Virus Ravages Testicles of Male Mice

Just 2 weeks post-infection, their testes shrank visibly

(Newser) - The Zika virus has been linked to microcephaly, or shrunken heads, in the infants of pregnant women who contract the virus, but it also decimates the testicles of males—at least in mice, report researchers in the journal Nature . Little is currently known about the impact of an infection on...

Giant Snake Has Virgin Birth

Reticulated python had 6 babies, with no male in sight

(Newser) - Sorry, gents, you might be getting phased out of the reproduction loop—at least when it comes to the world's longest snakes. Thelma, a 200-pound, 20-foot-long reticulated python who lives at Kentucky's Louisville Zoo with her female roommate Louise, gave birth in 2012 to six female babies. This...

Geckos Sent Into Space to Have Sex Now in Danger

Communications compromised with Russian satellite

(Newser) - Five lust-filled lizards hurled into the heavens to get lucky in the name of science are now in peril. The Russian space agency Roscosmos is trying to fix faulty communications with its Foton-M4 satellite, which was launched last week with one male gecko and four females on board, reports Ars...

8 Stories