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WTF, Evolution?

Akri said:
OK, those leopard slugs are weird.
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If you think that's weird, try Chromodoris reticulata, a species of sea slug:

16612511dfb0d28bc2.jpg


Just looking at it is enough to tell you that Evolution was on an acid trip that day. But there's more: once these hermaphrodite slugs have copulated (each one inserts its penis into the other's vagina, so they both have maximum fun), each slug sheds its penis before growing another one.

Yes, a disposable penis: Evolution, what will you think of next?

(See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21431678)
 
Michael C said:
Just looking at it is enough to tell you that Evolution was on an acid trip that day. But there's more: once these hermaphrodite slugs have copulated (each one inserts its penis into the other's vagina, so they both have maximum fun), each slug sheds its penis before growing another one.
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"sheds its penis" and "maximum fun" are mutually exclusive. Just....ouch.
 
If we're going to talk about castration, here's a fun article. These parasites still exist (the link is to a [JSTOR] paper on fossil crabs). Not only does the parasite castrate you, it basically does a forced sex-change on you. And if THAT wasn't enough, it knocks up your girlfriend. For life. It's actually a pretty ingenious behavior for a parasite--all offspring of infected crabs are themselves infected, so from the perspective of evolution it's nearly symbiotic (though I find it hard to use "symbiotic" to describe anything who's main attack form is castration of any kind....).
 
Dinwar said:
If we're going to talk about castration, here's a fun article. These parasites still exist (the link is to a [JSTOR] paper on fossil crabs). Not only does the parasite castrate you, it basically does a forced sex-change on you. And if THAT wasn't enough, it knocks up your girlfriend. For life. It's actually a pretty ingenious behavior for a parasite--all offspring of infected crabs are themselves infected, so from the perspective of evolution it's nearly symbiotic (though I find it hard to use "symbiotic" to describe anything who's main attack form is castration of any kind....).
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Your use of the words 'parasite' and 'symbiotic' are actually both correct.

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent591k/symbiosis.html
 
azzthom said:
Your use of the words 'parasite' and 'symbiotic' are actually both correct.
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Good point. Mutualism is a better term--the bopirids can be considered both parasitic, and mutualistic. Depending on how attached you are to your genitalia, and forced impregnation (can you call it rape? I believe the offspring are technically clones).
 
Dinwar said:
Good point. Mutualism is a better term--the bopirids can be considered both parasitic, and mutualistic. Depending on how attached you are to your genitalia, and forced impregnation (can you call it rape? I believe the offspring are technically clones).
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Nicely put. My question would be whether or not the relationship harms the host's species. Since the reproductive cycle of the host is effectively "hi-jacked" by the parasite, do the uninfected members of the host species benefit? Better survival prospects for offspring might be one way for uninfected individuals to benefit, particularly if there was some trait that made some individuals more susceptible to infection than others.
 
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