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kurt_go_bang t1_j6qu8m7 wrote

I’m 45 and well read.

Never heard the word quoll before this post.

243

rugbat t1_j6r88wo wrote

They got nothing on the antichinus. All their males die every mating season. They root and root until their immune systems collapse. Marsupial rats for non-australians. The original "root rats".

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xMercurex t1_j6rvbrc wrote

Letting the male die is often a efficient strategy for the species. Female are left with more food.

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RoboSt1960 t1_j6s6409 wrote

This reminds of “How’s the Night Life on Cissalda?” by Harlan Ellison. An alien race arrives on Earth and sexes people to death.

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cbrrydrz t1_j6s78n3 wrote

Maybe they can sense their dwindling numbers and are trying to repopulate as quickly as possible. Sacrificing themselves for preservation of the group.

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OlyScott t1_j6sa024 wrote

Do they know if this is new for the males? It may have always been this way for this species.

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4ucklehead t1_j6sc0aq wrote

They're just living their harem nirvana while on earth

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Defenestratio t1_j6so2jb wrote

Replying to rugbat (#1,694,607)

That joke unfortunately falls flat on the yanks, they don't have the same connotation of "rooting". There's a plumbing business called roto rooters in the states, gives me a good chuckle every time I see once of their trucks. Along with the "coït cleaners" from SF

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StormlitRadiance t1_j6sxoar wrote

Replying to Billbat1 (#1,696,391)

Males are less important. You can lose one male and it has no impact on the next generation, because it's easy for the other males pick up the slack.

If one female dies, that's a whole litter of pups that are missing from the next generation.

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Billbat1 t1_j6t2v7a wrote

Replying to ChemicalRain5513 (#1,696,530)

one of the reasons women arent allowed to fight on the frontlines in a lot of armies is because men are affected more by women get hurt or killed. the stronger emotions is probably an evolutionary trait to protect women above men. its the same reason why women were prioritized over men when the titanic was sinking. theres a lot of scenarios were men have an advantage, when it comes to life and death it seems that womens safety is prioritized.

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StarfleetGo t1_j6tc9r7 wrote

Death by snu snu??

We honor these brave lads...

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tanglekelp t1_j6u3v8s wrote

Replying to Billbat1 (#1,696,699)

I’ve also heard that the ‘women and children first’ thing is because men are usually physically stronger and bigger so women and children wouldn’t have a chance to get to the lifeboats when everyone is scrambling to save themselves

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Robot_Basilisk t1_j6u7r7e wrote

Replying to Billbat1 (#1,696,699)

The irony being much of Russia's modern problems likely stem from the generations of kids raised without a father because up to 80 or 90% of men in a generation died in WW2.

The 10-20% that lived were often unfit to serve in one way or another, or con men. And Russian women had to compete for them. Then they had to raise their sons with few men around to help or be good role models.

The American Baby Boom saw the Nuclear Family flourish.

The Russian Baby Boom was considerably more depressing.

Both fell prey to Cold War propaganda.

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funguyjones t1_j6umrgm wrote

They don't know if they are coming or going

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funguyjones t1_j6umtk2 wrote

At least they died doing what they love.

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DeadHED t1_j6uqnj1 wrote

I was like this in college, I turned out ok.

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drchris498 t1_j6vck2b wrote

I'm one of the authors on this paper, let me know if you have any questions! It's been amazing seeing the response this paper has gotten.

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drchris498 t1_j6wp4h9 wrote

Replying to VeryNearlyAnArmful (#1,702,460)

This is a natural behaviour. What we didn't know was why the males were actually dying. Scientists thought it could be excess stress hormones, but the levels were not elevated in this species. We decided to record their movement behaviour and found this lack of sleep. Given their symptoms we think this is what kills them.

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Inconspicuous_prime8 t1_j6xcewj wrote

Sounds like the Tom cat in my neighborhood. Literally fighting and f***ing himself to death.

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