Male (left) and female he created them. (Economist photo) |
A mollusk that lived 400 million years ago has upended that theory. Paleontologists observed that males of the presciently-named Microbrachius dicki
have special bony claspers that would, when the animal was alive, have held a female close for mating, while others (presumably female) have dermal plates corresponding to these claspers that would have allowed their paramours to get a good grip.Today claspers can be found in male sharks and other fish. Perhaps the lyricist should have included the humble mollusk when he sang
Cold Cape Cod clams, 'gainst their wish, do it
Even lazy jellyfish do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
No comments:
Post a Comment