The Biology of Love *
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The Biology of Love * *Please note. This discussion in no way attempts to discuss love in a religious context. Rather it is merely an entertaining way to learn about the sometimes comical world of biological reproduction.
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The Biology of Love *. *Please note. This discussion in no way attempts to discuss love in a religious context. Rather it is merely an entertaining way to learn about the sometimes comical world of biological reproduction. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of The Biology of Love *
The Biology of Love*
*Please note. This discussion in no way attempts to discuss love in a religious context. Rather it is merely an entertaining way to learn about the sometimes comical world of biological reproduction.
“If not for sex[ual reproduction], much of what is flamboyant and beautiful in nature would not exist.”
–Olivia Judson, Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation
Why Sex?
A sexual organism has only 50% of the “fitness” of an asexual organism. In a game between sex and "asex," asex
always wins -- other things being equal. That's because asexual reproduction is
easier, and it's guaranteed to pass genes on to one's offspring.
1 2 3 41 2
A sexual organism has only 50% of the “fitness” of an asexual organism. asexuality is more common in
species that are little troubled by disease: boom-and-bust
microscopic creatures, arctic or high-altitude plants and insects.
1 2 3 41 2
So, I ask again…Why Sex?
You Have to Find and Woo a Mate
This takes ATP!!
You Have to Fight to Win Their Love
This takes ATP!!This takes ATP!!
You'll Be More Conspicuous to Predators
This takes ATP!!This takes ATP!!
Male Superb Bird of Paradise
Sex Increases Risk of Diseases
That Lead to: Sickness
InfertilityDeath
So, Why Sex?
b/c it gives us BIG
benefits against
ANTIGENS!!!!
WHAT???????? I don’t get it --WHAT???????? I don’t get it --
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The Red QueenRed Queen Hypothesis
The Red Queen's Hypothesis is an evolutionary hypothesis ~ 1983.
The term is taken from the Red Queen's race in Lewis Carroll's “Through the Looking-Glass”.
The Red Queen said: "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."
The Red Queen Principle can be stated thus:
"For an evolutionary system, continuing development is needed just in order to maintain its fitness relative to the systems it is co-evolving with.
When one changes… (prey) so does the other have to (predator)!
The hypothesis is intended to explain the advantage of sexual reproduction at the level of individuals.
By making every individual an experiment, when mixing mother's and father's genes, sexual reproduction may allow a species to evolve quickly-
…just to hold onto the ecological niche that it already has in the ecosystem.
First coined by Leigh Van Valen of the University of Chicago, it refers to Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, in which the Red Queen tells Alice, "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."
This never-ending evolutionary cycle describes many natural interactions between hosts and disease, or between predators and prey: As species that live at each other's expense coevolve, they are engaged in a constant evolutionary struggle for a survival advantage. They need "all the running they can do," because the landscape around them is constantly changing.
The Red Queen hypothesis for sex is simple: SEX IS NEEDED TO FIGHT DISEASE!!
Diseases specialize in breaking into cells, either to eat them, as fungi and bacteria do, or, like viruses, to subvert their genetic machinery for the purpose of making new viruses.
To do that they use protein molecules that bind to other molecules on cell surfaces. The arms races between parasites and their hosts are all about these binding proteins.
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The Red Queen hypothesis for sex is simple: SEX IS NEEDED TO FIGHT DISEASE!!
Parasites invent new keys; For if one lock is common in one generation, the key that fits it will spread like wildfire.
So you can be sure that it is the very lock not to have a few generations later.
The Red Queen hypothesis for sex is simple: SEX IS NEEDED TO FIGHT DISEASE!!
According to the Red Queen hypothesis, sexual reproduction persists because it enables host species to evolve new genetic defenses against parasites that attempt to live off them.
Lucky in Love
Sex is the best
strategy for
winning the
lottery… keeping
your genes afloat!!
Greater SuccessIncreasing Variety =
The Differenc
eBetweenMalesand
Females
Between 1725-1765,the Wife of Feodor Vassilyev had
69 Children
In Her 27 Pregnancies:she Gave Birth to *16 Pairs of Twins *7 Sets of Triplets *4 Sets of Quadruplets
1,042Children
Love is Like a Game of ChessIt's All About Strategy
Base Your Decisions on theEnvironment Environment in Which You Live
Make the
Choice
That Wil
l Lead t
o
the Grea
test Num
ber of S
uccessfu
l
Offsprin
g!
Monogamy...My Heart Beats Only For You
Polygamy...
I Love You and You and You and You and
Monogamy PolygamyLess disease risk More diversity in offspringCan guard your mate Produce more offspringLower infanticide Less commitmentForm social bondsLess male competition
HowMany
Offspring
ShouldYouHave?
If You Decide to Have Few...
YouMust
ProvideParental
Care
This takes ATP!!This takes ATP!!
If You Decide to Have Many...
You Won't Have to Provide Parental Care
That You'll Die Soon Afterwards
But,You'll
ProbablyBe So
Exhausted
Are You a Desperate Male?
CommitSexualSuicide
It's Better
to HaveLoved
andLost
Then toHave Never
Loved at All!
Or Allow Yourself to Be Exploited
And Persist as a TinyBlood-Sucking ParasiteAttached to the Female's
Body
Whatif a
Memberof the
OppositeSex
is NotAvailable?
Get a Sex Change!
But, What if You're Alone?
Shy?
Rejected?
Unable to find a mate?
All is Not Lost
Go Asexual
But, Remember You Lose the Benefits of Sex So Switch Back When Possible
Arguably the Most Exquisitely Evolved
Mating Behaviors Belong to Class Aves
Arguably the Most Exquisitely Evolved
Mating Behaviors Belong to Class Aves
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TheGreatest
HumanMating
Behaviorof
AllTime
And Now for the Finale
Drumroll Please
The End
Photo Credits
Slide # Photographer URL
3 Unknown http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/img/sperm_egg_1is.jpg
4 Michael Reeve http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Evolsex-dia1a.png
5 Arthur Morris http://www.birdsasart.com/Royal-terns-courtship-feeding-DeSoto-FL-_H2D8575.jpg
6 Unknown http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/3290720.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=C06051C8BA2A5A2C4196C3EDFEC0E7E6A55A1E4F32AD3138
7 Billy Campbell http://l.yimg.com/img.tv.yahoo.com/tv/us/img/site/81/22/0000038122_20070301141540.jpg
8 Lampron http://www.health2know.com/images/herpes.jpg
9 Unknown http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/img/sperm_egg_1is.jpg
10 Unknown http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alicepic/disney-movie/alice-with-queen-of-hearts.jpg
11 John Tenniel http://www.proteusadvisors.com/uploaded_images/Red-Queen-733514.jpg
12 Unknown http://bp3.blogger.com/_92E8fZ0HCXg/Rx5CWQhSyxI/AAAAAAAABJQ/t-P_NSFEcyo/s1600-h/lottery+balls.jpg
13 Unknown http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2007/05/dpuzzle_640.gif
14 Steven Rhoads http://www.flatrock.org.nz/topics/society_culture/assets/sex_differences.jpg
15 Can you identify? Found on Creative Commons Flickr Search
16 Unknown http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Moulay_Ismail.jpg
17 PoppyW http://www.flickr.com/photos/poppyw/348928452/
18 Can you identify? Found on Creative Commons Flickr Search
19 WTL http://www.flickr.com/photos/wtlphotos/1045750850/
20 M. Boylen http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Callorhinus_ursinus_and_harem.jpg/300px-Callorhinus_ursinus_and_harem.jpg
Slide # Photographer URL
21 alb
21 lion
James Preston
Brian Scott
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamespreston/88920149/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianscott/283824665/
22 Can you identify? Found on Creative Commons Flickr Search
23 Martha de Jong-Lantink http://www.flickr.com/photos/marthaenpiet/2093911204/
24 Can you identify? Found on Creative Commons Flickr Search
25 Unknown http://www.bpa.gov/corporate/BPANews/Library/images/fish/Chinook_eggs.jpg
26 Anvi http://www.anvious.com/archive/photoblog/061026.jpg
27 Can you identify? Found on Creative Commons Flickr Search
28 TarynMarie http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarynmarie/233251372/
29 T.W. Pietsch http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/news/images/20050129-photocorynus_spiniceps-male_female.jpg
30 Kawa0310 http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_road_ahead/130768000/
31 tlindenbaum http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindenbaum/360684002/
32 ucumari http://www.flickr.com/photos/ucumari/580865728/
33 Jill Greenberg http://photomediamagazineonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/JG-monkeysuitff.jpg
34 Arnar Valdimarsson http://www.flickr.com/photos/arnar/95116503/
35 Mike Kemp http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/96/47/23494796.jpg
36 Unknown http://www.rivalryrecords.com/BAND_LOGOS/logo_GoItAlone_LP.jpg
37 Tim Knight http://homepage.mac.com/wildlifeweb/reptile/komodo_dragon/komodo_dragon_04tfk.jpg
38 Sailing Nomad http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanwhisner/363966960/
40 Unknown http://www.moviewallpapers.net/images/wallpapers/1977/saturday-night-fever/saturday-night-fever-1-1024.jpg
41 ucumari http://www.flickr.com/photos/ucumari/427035041/
