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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: mating

mating stories: 8 news summaries

SEEDY CRUSTACEANS

 Hooker Crabs 
 Swap Sex for Safety 

Male crabs rewarded with sex for defending neighbors

(Newser) - Selling sex is the key to survival in the seedy world of fiddler crabs, according to Australian researchers. Scientists studying the burrow-dwelling, highly territorial creatures found that male fiddler crabs fought off intruders to protect female neighbors—who lack the male's huge claw—far more often than they would aid... More »

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 Pandas Haven't 
 Bounced Back 
 From China Quake 

Sichuan disaster presents lasting difficulties for breeders

(Newser) - China’s efforts to save the giant panda from extinction haven’t recovered from last year’s earthquake in Sichuan province, AFP reports. The temblor swallowed up whole groves of bamboo, causing a food shortage just as breeding centers, whose efforts have caused a recent panda “baby boom,”... More »

 Salamanders Get Help 
 Crossing the Road 

To mate! With some help from human friends

(Newser) - Salamanders are getting an assist this mating season from volunteers who shepherd them across dangerous highways, the AP reports. Hundreds try to cross between forests and vernal pools this time of year, and human escorts—also known as bucket brigades—have popped up along the East Coast to keep them... More »

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 Audio Stimulus Gets 
 Cheetahs to Mate 

Man-altered bioacoustics work as an aphrodisiac for cheetahs

(Newser) - Man’s ingenuity has altered nature’s rhythms for the better at the San Diego Zoo, where an African cheetah cub was born after zookeepers helped her dad turn on her mom, the North Country Times reports. Park scientists used bioacoustics—human-altered animal sounds—to stimulate mating after they discovered... More »

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Panda Lovin' Leaves DC Zoo Wanting

Bears fail again at 'competent mating'; keepers help out

(Newser) - A romantic day in the park amid inaugural hubbub wasn’t enough to propagate the genes of two famous pandas at Washington’s National Zoo, the Washington Post reports. The pair had given mating calls, prompting hopes for the conception of a new member of the endangered species, which is... More »

Mating Calls Bare More
Than Desire

Courtship 'song' of desert creatures
conveys complex info

(Newser) - Like human songs, animal calls are said to spur courtship, but what exactly does each wail and snort signify? To find out, a pair of Tel Aviv zoologists studied the mating songs of furry little rock hyraxes in the Judean desert. The researchers found that male hyrax courtship "songs"... More »

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  Mating Antelope 
 Show Off Knees. 
 Seriously. 

Sound communicates animal's strength, prevents conflict

(Newser) - Doesn't sound all that sexy, but Africa’s male eland antelope has developed his own way of demonstrating its sexual prowess and warding off rivals. Males click their knees to establish mating rights and avoid brawls: the louder the click, the larger the animal, and the more likely he is... More »

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Americans Seek Immune Genes in Mates: Study

Nigerians don't marry for DNA diversity, but may not need to

(Newser) - Americans pick mates with different immune genes while Africans prefer the genes they already have, New Scientist reports. A study of 60 couples from Utah and Nigeria showed that the Americans hitched up with partners whose genes recognized pathogens that theirs couldn't. The African marriages, however, appeared to be... More »

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8 Stories