SPERM TRAVELS FASTER FOR ATTRACTIVE FEMALES

Sometimes, as I peruse through the science sites, an article just makes me shake my head in wonder and ask "Just who comes up with some of this research?  And just who actually does the research?".   Could you keep a straight face when presenting your paper (hopefully not stained) before the Annual Meeting of the Royal Science Society of  Research and Investigation?  "Yes, you see Gentlemen and Gentleladies, we built this small race track and . . ."  

Enjoy, sometimes science is funnier in truth, than any story one could make up.

(Text in Italics added by JohnOh)

SPERM TRAVELS FASTER FOR ATTRACTIVE FEMALES

by Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News, ABC (Australian) Science

New research found that males can adjust the speed and effectiveness of their sperm, based on whether they find their mate attractive.

The study, conducted on red junglefowl, a direct ancestor of chickens, adds to the growing body of evidence that males from promiscuous species, including humans, (Like that excuse will go over big with a girlfriend or wife!!)  increase the chances of fertilisation when the female is deemed to be attractive.

 

(This looks a lot like a Rhode Island Red we had years ago, name Ted The Red)

 

But what makes a desirable female red junglefowl?

"Female attractiveness is determined by the expression of a sexual ornament - the comb -  (JungleFowl pick up lines:  Hey ChickeeBabee, Nice combs!!") which is phenotypically and genetically correlated to the number and mass of eggs females lay," according to study co-authors Dr Charlie Cornwallis of the  University of Oxford and the Royal Veterinary College's  Dr Emily O'Connor.

 

 

(No comb, no little ones, cute but not sexy)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Nice set of combs, lots of little ones, very sexy. WOOHOOO)

 

 

 

 

 

For the study, published in the current Proceedings of the Royal Society B,   the researchers collected natural ejaculates from dominate and subordinate red junglefowl males housed at the University of Stockholm. The males had either just mated with attractive or unattractive females.

 

The scientists next separated the sperm from the seminal fluid and analysed the quantity and characteristics of both. (Oh yes, this sure must help his dating success:  "So Harold, what do you do for work?"  "Well Sue, I follow chickens around until they screw themselves silly, and then I collect their ejaculates and count their sperm.  And somedays I even get to time the little sperms' speed around this little race course we built!" )

DOUBLE FIRING

"There was a strong relationship between sperm velocity and the volume of the ejaculate sperm came from," write Cornwallis and O'Connor, adding that males allocated "larger ejaculates to attractive females."

The mechanism behind this remains a mystery for now, but the scientists have an intriguing theory.

 

 

 

"Males may alter the velocity of sperm they allocate to copulations by strategically firing their left and right ejaculatory ducts, which can operate independently," they explain.  (Uh-huh!! Sure, like all guy's, when they make passonate love, they are thinking about:  10mph or should I go for 20mph? Should I do the left duct first?  Nah, think I did that last time, let's go for the right duct.  Not sure if it was the left last time, Oh s**t, I'll just let them both go at once!)

Stimulation from sexy, attractive females, therefore, leads to the double firing.  (Too too strange, I have heard of Premature firing, but Double??)

 

 

 

"Furthermore," they add, "differential firing of left and right ejaculatory ducts may contribute to how males strategically change the number of sperm in their ejaculates, a phenomenon that is widespread, but for which the mechanism remains unknown."  (Here we go again:  "Okay, now that I have decided to let both ducts go at the same time, should I let a couple million go? Hmmm, maybe only 999,999 from the right, and 1 from the left?  Nah, too easy,  hmmm what to do what to do?)

 

 

 

 

SPEEDY SPERM

Similar findings were recently determined for African cichlid fish, whose males produce speedier sperm when females mate with many males in quick succession.  (As if chasing chickens around wasn't enough, now we have a group of scientist following fish!!  Who pays for this?)

Dr John Fitzpatrick of the University of Western Australia  led the fish study while he was a graduate student at McMaster University.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first step in producing more competitive sperm was by influencing how much energy the sperm can produce," says Fitzpatrick. "Just like a mechanic could make a car drive faster by installing a better engine, evolution appears to act first on the engine that drives sperm movement."  (I may never view my mechanice the same again, ever!!)

 

 

 

 

 

While much of this process, including detection of attractive females, can occur on a subliminal basis, human males hoping to improve their fertility would be wise to not smoke marijuana, which University of Buffalo research shows reduces amounts of seminal fluid and lowers total sperm counts.

 

 

At the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Australian obstetrician and gynecologist Dr David Greening announced his finding that daily sex, or ejaculation, for seven days improves men's sperm quality.  (Now this is whole another area of research that begs for some answers, but I am not even sure how to pose the questions!!)

 

 

 

He suggest it reduces the amount of DNA damage, since lengthy exposure to oxygen in the testicular ducts may harm cells. (I thought oxgen was good for us!!)

 

 

 

Both Greening and the British scientists hope future research will better identify how males adjust the sperm and seminal fluid in their ejaculates, and how this affects fertility rates.   (I think the scientists enjoyed this research a bit too much,  sounds like they cannot wait to start chasing chickens again) 

 

 

 

 

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