Size Does Matter in Bats' Evolution

[Gormy Cuss]

By WILLIAM KATES, Associated Press Writer

For some male bats, sexual prowess comes with a price — smaller brains. A research team led by Syracuse University biologist Scott Pitnick found that in bat species where the females are promiscuous, the males boasting the largest testicles also had the smallest brains. Conversely, where the females were faithful, the males had smaller testes and larger brains.

"It turns out size does matter," said Pitnick, whose findings were published in December in "Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Science," an online journal.

(snip)

The study found that in more monogamous species, the average male brain size was about 2.6 percent of body weight, while in promiscuous species, the average size dipped to 1.9 percent.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/01/24/national/a012711S96.DTL
©2006 Associated Press

:D :D :D :D :D

On edit: check out underpants's Testicle Quiz thread....

[bloom]

1. "Hey Guys: Big Testes Might Be Indicator of Small Brain"

I liked that headline better :)

December 8, 2005 10:40AM

" Men are often accused of having a one-track mind. When filled with lust, it seems they simply cannot think of anything else.
Now scientists have found there really may be a direct relationship between the male brain and his private parts. They found evidence that males can create plenty of sperm or lots of brain cells, but not both.

As a result it seems, in bats at least, that large testicles go together with tiny brains. A study published Thursday looked at 334 different bat species to see if brain size was linked to reproductive organs.

Among many species of bats, females are highly promiscuous, and when the researchers looked at the reproductive organs of these species, they found the males have evolved enormous testicles...

This may be because their sperm has to compete with that of other males and they want the best possible chance of fathering offspring."

http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=40031

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This was published over a month ago. I guess the wires just got a hold of it.


I think it's pretty interesting - esp. if there were relevance to humans. The idea that men would have larger brains when the women are more monogamous. It kind of makes you wonder if there isn't something to the idea that men feel threatened by the idea of promiscuous women. Many things in society point to that - the implication of words - for one thing - slut, whore, bitch, etc.

Apparently the men's promiscuity is irrelevant - or they just didn't address that issue.