Content Warning: explicit language, descriptions of sex, pretty wholesome episode honestly

Allan's Sources:

1. Kempenaers, Bart. (2022). Mating systems in birds. Current Biology. 32. R1115-R1121. 10.1016/j.cub.2022.06.066.
2. Kirkpatrick, M., Ryan, M. The evolution of mating preferences and the paradox of the lek. Nature 350, 33–38 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/350033a0
3. Rathore A, Isvaran K, Guttal V. 2023 Lekking as collective behaviour. Phil.Trans. R. Soc. B 378: 20220066. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0066

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Content Warning: Drug use, including recreational drugs. Moral panics. Sexual references. Spoiler: ((it's not the cats))

Nicole's Sources:

1. Shi, X., et al. Repellency of Novel Catnip Oils Against the Bed Bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) | Journal of Medical Entomology. Oxford Academic.
2. Batume, C., et al. 2024. Evaluating repellence properties of catnip essential oil against the mosquito species Aedes aegypti using a Y-tube olfactometer. Scientific Reports.
3. Espín-Iturbe, L., et al. 2017. Active and passive responses to catnip (Nepeta cataria) are affected by age, sex and early gonadectomy in male and female cats. Behavioural Processes.
4. Johns Hopkins Medicine. 2019. Deet Gives Humans an ‘Invisibilty Cloak’ to Fend Off Mosquito Bites.

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Content Warning: cannibalism, suicide, coercive/violent sexual behavior, death during pregnancy, partner death, drowning, necrophilia

(start the episode at 36:12 to avoid our discussion of all of the above, which are discussed in the context of "most dangerous courtship behaviors". we promise, it gets much sillier after that!)

Filthy Animals is back! We open Season 2 with some very important data-driven nonsense to settle some burning questions about the world of animal courtship. TO WIT: Which animals are mating in the most dangerous way possible, AND who is doing it the most obnoxiously? Danger and stupidity abound. Let the great debate begin!

Sources: Allan's Sources:

Ancel, A., Gilbert, C. & Beaulieu, M. The long engagement of the emperor penguin. Polar Biol 36, 573–577 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1285-9

Biaggio MD, Sandomirsky I, Lubin Y, Harari AR, Andrade MC. Copulation with immature females increases male fitness in cannibalistic widow spiders. Biol Lett. 2016 Sep;12(9):20160516. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0516. PMID: 27651535; PMCID: PMC5046930.

Maydianne C. B. Andrade, Risky mate search and male self-sacrifice in redback spiders, Behavioral Ecology, Volume 14, Issue 4, July 2003, Pages 531–538, https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arg015

Rachel's Sources: Drop Dead! Female mate avoidance in an explosively breeding frog (2023) https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230742

Breeding Mortality in the Wood Frog (2000) https://scholarworks.uark.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1735&context=jaas

Mothers want brainy babies: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2000/11/female-birds-choose-best-singers-have-smarter-offspring

Birds of the World - Golden-collared Manakin: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/gocman1/cur/introduction

Nicole's Sources:

Han, C., and Jablonski, P. 2010. Male water striders attract predators to intimidate females into copulation | Nature Communications.

CicadaMania.com

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Content Warning: Discussions about sexual acts and copulation rituals in bees, including some graphic "traumatic mating events." :) "It can't always be roses." - Nicole Brown, 2024

THIS IS OUR LAST EPISODE OF THE SEASON! We're taking a winter break, and we'll be back at the end of March with a new slate of episodes. Thanks for tagging along with us this year.

Wasp orgy videos [Source 3]: https://summit.sfu.ca/item/12712

Nicole's Sources:

1. Buchmann, S. 2023. What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities of Bees. Island Press.
2. Marshall, L., Alcock, J. 1981. The evolution of the mating system of the Carpenter bee Xylocopa varipuncta. Journal of Zoology.
3. Ablard, K. 2006. Local Mate Competition, and Mechanisms, Functions and Fitness Consequences of Courtship and Mating Behaviour in the Parasitoid Wasp Ooencyrtus kuvanae (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). Ph.D. Dissertation Simon Fraser University.

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The miracle of life is straightforward and simple, right? Sperm. Egg. BOOM. Babies. That's what they taught us in science school!

In actuality, it's much more complicated, as pregnancy and childbirth in the wild leave mother and embryo alike vulnerable to environmental conditions, social constraints and hypercompetitive males. In this episode, Rachel tells us the many fascinating adaptations for reproductive control in mammals, showing the incredible capacity of animals to navigate the dangers of life before it even begins.

Content Warning: sexual content, abortion, pregnancy loss, infanticide (sensitive content begins at 31:28 of the episode)

Rachel's Sources:

1. Inzani, E., Marshall, H. H., Thompson, F. J., Kalema-Zikusoka, G., Cant, M. A., & Vitikainen, E. I. (2019). Spontaneous abortion as a response to reproductive conflict in the banded mongoose. Biology Letters, 15(12). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0529
2. Feldhamer, G. A., Merritt, J. F., Krajewski, C., Rachlow, J. L., & Stewart, K. M. (2020). Mammalogy: Adaptation, diversity, ecology. Johns Hopkins University Press.
3. Bartoš, L., Dušek, A., Bartošová, J., Pluháček, J., & Putman, R. (2020). How to escape male infanticide: Mechanisms for avoiding or terminating pregnancy in mammals. Mammal Review, 51(1), 143–153. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12219
4. Heideman, P. D. (1989). Delayed development in Fischer’s pygmy fruit bat, Haplonycteris fischeri, in the Philippines. Reproduction, 85(2), 363–382. https://doi.org/10.1530/jrf.0.0850363

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Content Warning: Body horror, existential dread, "nature is metal" prey-predator interactions. This Halloween episode is about predators who stash their prey for later... alive.

Nicole's Sources:

1. Eleonora's Falcons imprison live birds for a later meal. 2015. MaghrebOrnitho.
2. BirdLife Cyprus. 2022. Eleonora's Falcon - Life in the Balance. YouTube.
3. Gayahan, G., Tschinkel, W. 2008. Fire Ants, Solenopsis invicta, Dry and Store Insect Pieces for Later Use. Journal of Insect Science.
4. BBC Earth. David Attenborough Eats a Honeypot Ant. YouTube.

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Content Warning: References to sex and nonviable pregnancies.

Spending every moment of waking life trying to get laid has its downsides, and for some organisms, the business of reproduction is just too much of a hassle. So why bother with mating at all? If you want something done right, sometimes you just have to do it yourself. In this episode, Nicole runs down the fascinating asexual strategies of plants and animals, from self-printing bananas to all-female lizards to condor virgin birth.

Nicole's Sources:

1. Sexual Reproduction and the Evolution of Sex. Scitable.
2. Asexual Reproduction In Plants- Types and Methods. Byju’s.
3. Engelstädter J. 2008. Constraints on the evolution of asexual reproduction. Bioessays 30(11-12).
4. Osborne, M. 2022. Mice Birthed From Unfertilized Eggs for the First Time. Smithsonian Magazine.

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Content Warning: graphic descriptions of STIs, death, some sprinkling of thinking too much about how much of a horror bodies are.

Koalas are well known for being disease ridden (at least in our circles) so lets talk about it. Chlamydia is highly contagious and deadly in koalas as well as birds, cows, and many other animals. This is a trip down sex education memory lane and details the horrible death that is untreated STIs.

Rachel's Primary Sources:

1. Wang, H., Jensen, J.-K., Olsson, A., Vorimore, F., Aaziz, R., Guy, L., Ellström, P., Laroucau, K., & Herrmann, B. (2020). Chlamydia psittaci in Fulmars on the Faroe Islands: A causative link to South American psittacines eight decades after a severe epidemic. Microbes and Infection, 22(8), 356–359.
2. Phillips, S., Quigley, B. L., Aziz, A., Bergen, W., Booth, R., Pyne, M., & Timms, P. (2019). Antibiotic treatment of chlamydia-induced cystitis in the koala is linked to expression of key inflammatory genes in reactive oxygen pathways. PLOS ONE, 14(8).
3. Van Wettere, A. J. (2020, February). Avian chlamydiosis - avian chlamydiosis. Merck Veterinary Manual.
4. Chen, C.-J., Casteriano, A., Green, A. C., & Govendir, M. (2023). A retrospective study on antibacterial treatments for koalas infected with chlamydia pecorum. Scientific Reports, 13(1).
5. Willson, G., & Cimon, K. Y. (2024, June 3). Bursa - cyst. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Secondary Sources:

1. Li, Z., Liu, P., Hou, J., Xu, G., Zhang, J., Lei, Y., Lou, Z., Liang, L., Wen, Y., & Zhou, J. (2020). Detection of Chlamydia psittaci and Chlamydia ibidis in the endangered crested ibis (nipponia nippon). Epidemiology and Infection, 148.
2. Marti, I., Pisano, S. R. R., & Wehrle, M. (2019). Severe conjunctivitis associated with chlamydia felis infection in a free-ranging Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 55(2), 522.
3. Laroucau, K., Aaziz, R., Lécu, A., Laidebeure, S., et al. (2020). A cluster of Chlamydia Serpentis cases in captive snakes. Veterinary Microbiology, 240, 108499.
4. Laroucau, K., Ortega, N., Vorimore, F., et al. (2020). Detection of a novel chlamydia species in captive spur-thighed tortoises (Testudo Graeca) in southeastern Spain and proposal of Candidatus Chlamydia Testudinis. Systematic and Applied Microbiology, 43(2), 126071.
5. Laroucau, K., Vorimore, F., Aaziz, R., Solmonson, L., et al. (2019). Chlamydia buteonis, a new chlamydia species isolated from a red-shouldered hawk. Systematic and Applied Microbiology, 42(5), 125997.
6. Santoro M, Iaccarino D, Di Nocera F, Degli Uberti B et al. (2019). Molecular detection of Chlamydia abortus in a stranded Mediterranean striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba. Dis Aquat Org 132:203-208.

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