'War Stories'
[NAFDA] Spike-centric discussion. Lusty, lewd (only occasionally crude), risqué (and frisqué), bawdy (Oh, lawdy!), flirty ('cuz we're purty), raunchy talk inside. Caveat lector.
And I should recommend another book. Endless Forms Most Beautiful is specifically about evo devo, but another book that has a lot to say on the subject - and I think puts it into a more interesting context - is Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish.
I have that book! I liked it, but it wasn't as great a read as I expected.
Happy birthday, erika!
Happy Birthday, erika!
Happy Birthday, erika!
Does Neil Shubin explain why our knees are such a ridiculous design?
Does Neil Shubin explain why our knees are such a ridiculous design?
I do not know, but I think that's an easy one. We're bipeds getting around on quadrupedal knees. I believe that's also largely what's to blame for hernias, and possibly some of the difficulties of childbirth (though quadrupedal hyenas have that even worse, courtesy of an umbilical cord half the length of the birth canal).
Don't hyena females have a pseudo-penis through which they must give birth? Hyenas must exist as the creature that evil people get reincarnated into.
Happy birthday erika!
It was a while before Mal could watch Walking With Whatever - I started him a little too early on that and had to coax him out from behind the couch.
However, I watched so much David Attenborough while pregnant that we joked Mal would think that was his father's voice, and seriously he continues to ask for any Attenborough vid by preference.
Also, he wants a platypus. He's been figuring out a way to put a river in our backyard.
This I think is your future, billytea.
Don't hyena females have a pseudo-penis through which they must give birth?
They do! IIRC, around half of all first-time hyena mothers die in childbirth. For those that don't, this Wikipedia quote pretty much says it all:
"During parturition, the clitoris ruptures in order to facilitate the passage of young, and may take weeks to heal."
Well, at least billytea is in the right place to get a platypus without resorting to evil exotic animal smugglers.
This I think is your future, billytea.
The good news is that echidnas are rather less demanding in their living space.
Happy birthday erika!
Hyenas must exist as the creature that evil people get reincarnated into.
Oh dear, that concept fits scarily well in my childhood concept of heaven. Heaven is being reincarnated as the well-loved house pet of your choice.