Seahorses –
In the world of seahorses, the females are equipped with a penis like ovipositor (organ to lay eggs with) which she inserts into the males egg pouch where the male fertilize the eggs and as a result the male gets pregnant. It is believed they evolve this way so the young would be protected by the male while the female uses energy on producing more eggs that way when the young are born the parents are ready to mate again sooner.
While seahorses do not mate for life, they are very faithful, loving and gentle in the days up till the actual mating, and while the male is pregnant the female will visit him every day to gently touch him and simply spend time with him.
Discus Fish –
The discus fish take good care of their young, and the male maybe more so than a lot of other males in the animal kingdom. A male and a female form a monogamous pair and find a place to lay the eggs. The female will then guard the eggs while the male guards her, and when it’s time for the eggs to hatch they help those struggling to get out by gently nibbling on the eggs. Both parents then feed the young with a milky secretion through their skin that is triggered by the same hormones that cause women to lactate, until the young or old enough to eat solid food.
The Ruff –
The Ruff is a special bird in a few ways. It’s one of the rare species where the males display more for each other than for females in order to establish a hierarchy. Also, they have three types of males who are different from each other in both looks and behavior.
The most common is the Territorial Male who is stronger and more aggressive towards other males of his own kind. He spends most of his time fighting and displaying.
The next is the Satellite male who is the same size of the territorial male but less muscular, more agile, and has much lighter, colored feathers. He doesn’t have a territory of his own but hangs out in the territorial male’s, sneak-breeding with the females. The territorial male tolerates this because the presence of a satellite male for some reason attracts more females.
And finally, there is the rare Faeder Male. He is smaller than the other males, looks more feminine, and like the satellite male have no territory. He also sneak-mates with the females, but will just as happily let the other males mate with him as well as top them. Originally people thought the other males confused him with a female, but closer studies have shown they are well aware of his gender. The stronger territorial male allows him in his territory because the high amount of homosexual activity attracts the females, and males who have topped or been topped by a faeder male is more lucky with the females. The faeder male will usually spend most of the summer with the females, and the winter with the males.
The females are incredibly promiscuous and while they usually prefer theater one, satellite to, and finally territorial as last, they always breed with all three types if they are available.
Cuttlefish –
When it’s mating season the biggest and strongest cuttlefish males find the best rocks for egg-laying. The much smaller females will then come to inspect the rock and see just how big and strong the male really is. If she chooses him he will then guard her for a while to make sure no other males mate with her.
But the females are very picky about big strong males because they actually prefer the smaller and smarter males, so they also use the big male to test the smaller ones.
What is a small male to do? He, of course, disguises himself as a female and casually swims under the bug male and do a bit of petting with him and acts like an interested female. Then he reveals himself as a male to the female and she happily mates with him as well.
That way she gets both strong and smart children that will get a better chance at survival.
Grouses –
During the mating season, grouse males will meet up on display grounds to show off their feathers, sing, and do mating dances with the females.
Occasionally they will fight, but more often than not even the fights are nothing more than model competitions where the males will pretend to battle as an excuse to show off their plumage even more.
Kiwi Bird –
The Kiwi is odd in a number of ways: their feathers are almost like fur, they are nocturnal, they have no wings of any importance, and their nostrils are at the very end of their beak.
But oddest of all, they lay the biggest eggs relative to body size of any bird. It is so big it almost fills up the female’s entire body and squishes her organs so hard and makes it difficult for her to breathe, and the last few days she can’t eat anything. She’s even bigger than the male to make room for the huge egg.
After it has been laid, the male takes over and incubates the egg alone.
The incubation period is 63 to 92 days, the longest for any bird. When the chick is hatched it’s like a small adult, already being able to walk, see, and covered in feathers. It stays with his parents for a few years before starting a life on its own.
Spotted Hyena –
A lot of animals turn our ideas of gender roles upside down, but the spotted hyenas take it to the extreme.
Females are larger and far more aggressive than males, and even the lowest female in the hierarchy is over the highest ranking male. This hierarchy is so strong that adult males are even scared of female puppies, and for good reason. Adult daughters show kindness towards their fathers by being less violent to them then to other males.
And it doesn’t stop there. Female hyenas have pseudo-penises that can get erect and are bigger and longer than the males penises, and make it very difficult for males to mate with females, and rape impossible. An erect penis is however seen as a sign of weakness, so males will present their erections to females to show submission the same way other animals present their throat.
Ant –
Queen Ants mate with a small group of males and store their sperm in her body for later use. She uses the sperm to create workers and soldiers for the colony, all female. But should she choose to not fertilize an egg with the sperm, it will become a male.
In other words, it’s impossible for a male ant to have a father.
Metellina Segmentata –
Most male spiders risk their lives when it’s mating season, so it’s no wonder the Metellina Segmentata male won’t even attempt mating with the female before she has been securely tied down.
He sneaks under her body and carefully wraps her in a web, and only then will he mate with her. But he is still quick about it, because the female is actually a willing participant, so as soon as the deed is done she easily frees herself from the bondage, and he better be out of the way when that happens.
Tamarins –
Tamarin monkeys are known to have all possible combinations of families, from one male and one female to one male and two females, but to a lot of tamarin species by far the most common family is one female and two males.
This is quite logical because tamarin females usually gives birth to twins and it is mainly the males who care for the young, only handing them over to the mother to breastfeed. Carrying the young around is a lot of hard work and the males even gain weight in muscles while the female is pregnant to prepare for the job. They then each care for a young, making it significantly easier. A male with two females might risk having to carry around four babies.
Birds of Paradise –
In a lot of bird species, the males are more colorful than the females, and the birds of paradise illustrate this to the fullest.
In the forest where they live there’s plenty of food all year around and few predators to worry about, so the male birds have plenty of time to perform complicated and grand mating dances, using their impressive feathers for their displays. This need to dance is so strong in the males that they will perform even if there are no females around. When a female does show up he will throw himself even more wholeheartedly into his dancing and perform quite limber moves for a bird. The female will judge both his looks and performance, and only the best will do, so for each generation the males become more and more beautiful and their dances more impressive.
Young males will often watch older males dance to learn a few tricks and borrow their display areas for practice.
Side-Blotched Lizard –
The side-blotched lizard has three different male types who all use different tactics: the orange throated, blue throated, and yellow throated.
The orange throated is pumped with testosterone and his main focus is to have a huge territory and as many females as possible. Though he will protect the females, he doesn’t form strong or long lasting bonds with any of them. He can beat the blue throated male to get his territory.
The blue throated male is smaller, has less testosterone in him, and only has a territory big enough for one female who he forms a strong bond with. Like the orange throated male, he will protect her and try to fight off attackers until she’s safe.
Lastly, there is the yellow throated male who’s color closely resembles the females and has no territory of his own. He lives in the outskirts of the orange throated male’s territory where he sneak-breeds with the females. Because the orange throated male doesn’t spend much time with the females they only hang around for territory and have no problem mating with another male. The female who has bonded with a blue throated male, however, doesn’t want to be unfaithful to him and will turn yellow throated down.
So it’s like a game of rock paper scissors: orange beats blue, blue beats yellow, and yellow beats orange.
Bonobo –
Chimpanzees and bonobos are the closest relatives to humans, but though they sure are a lot of traits they have chosen to do things very differently.
In chimpanzee society, the biggest and strongest small apes rule, while in bonobo society the physically weaker females rule the stronger males by working together and using sex to control them.
In general, everything is an excuse for sex in bonobo society, especially when tension is rising. For example, if two males want the same female, instead of fighting they’ll have sex with each other, which lets out some tension as well reinforcing their friendship, or a female might hit a baby and the mother will chase her but afterwords they will rub their clitorises together to make up. Or a male might start getting aggressive and a female will grab him and give him a quickie to make him relax.
Sex is a very casual thing for bonobos, and while chimpanzees have sexual taboos like humans, there’s no such thing for bonobos. Everything goes in all combinations, and bonobo society is one of the most peaceful societies because of it. They literally live by the motto “Make love, not war.”
Via Humoncomics
