"...pretty much all biologists love junk."
August 26, 2015 9:02 PM Subscribe
Last night, Virginia Tech grad student Ann Hilborn, her labmate Chris Rowe, and their research supervisor Marcella Kelly were posting pictures of animal genitals on their lab’s Twitter account (@Whapavt). When Hilborn added some more from her collection, one of their readers called it a “junk-off”. And thus a hashtag was born. [NSFW?]
turns out she got there first. I will need to come up with some good anecdotes about genitalia in my species soon, goddammit. Or maybe previous species, my current ones have female and male genitalia which are kind of hard to tell apart and not especially interesting for rodents.
HM.
posted by sciatrix at 9:11 PM on August 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
HM.
posted by sciatrix at 9:11 PM on August 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
Oops, I suppose a link to the #JunkOff hashtag would help.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:13 PM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Room 641-A at 9:13 PM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
she got there first.
Well, that junk is darling.
I'm not really sure how to understand what's going on with the Roughskin Dogfish.
posted by cotton dress sock at 9:16 PM on August 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
Well, that junk is darling.
I'm not really sure how to understand what's going on with the Roughskin Dogfish.
posted by cotton dress sock at 9:16 PM on August 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
This explains so much about our The Whelk.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:21 PM on August 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:21 PM on August 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm very pleased to see the appearance of the penis bone cart from the Cal Academy of Science, which they only bring out for Nightlife events. No kids are at these events and I think it's a shame the cart and docents aren't around during the daytime hours too, but I grudgingly understand why.
posted by rtha at 9:27 PM on August 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by rtha at 9:27 PM on August 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
A very nice followup to their launch of #fieldworkfail (previously).
posted by maudlin at 11:07 PM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by maudlin at 11:07 PM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have to throw in a vote for the echidna's junk, which has four heads. Of course, they can only use two at a time, because the female only has two vaginas.
posted by Fnarf at 12:56 AM on August 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Fnarf at 12:56 AM on August 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
Well, this is MAJESTIC.
posted by louche mustachio at 12:57 AM on August 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by louche mustachio at 12:57 AM on August 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
As someone who worked for a porn distributor and who lived in Austin in the 90s I am 100% not surprised.
posted by louche mustachio at 2:16 AM on August 27, 2015
posted by louche mustachio at 2:16 AM on August 27, 2015
I mean, under the #JunkOff hashtag there is a video of a tapir who seems like even HE can't believe how ridiculous his penis is.
You can find it yourself if you feel so motivated. I'm done convincing Google I am a horrifying person today.
posted by louche mustachio at 2:22 AM on August 27, 2015
You can find it yourself if you feel so motivated. I'm done convincing Google I am a horrifying person today.
posted by louche mustachio at 2:22 AM on August 27, 2015
That was at no point not gross, and I can't help but feel that the interest is inappropriate in some way. Mostly, I was just trying to figure out what I was looking at. (Where it wasn't abundantly clear.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:50 AM on August 27, 2015
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:50 AM on August 27, 2015
Just to burst everyone's bubble about this: when I worked at a porn store in north Austin in the mid-90's we had at least one tape that contained nothing but footage of animals fucking.
So much more efficient than having to fast forward through nature documentaries, I suppose. People are weird.
As is the crazy diversity of junk -- some of the photos made sense, but with other ones I was wondering not just what that was, but how on earth it could be used?
posted by Dip Flash at 4:22 AM on August 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
So much more efficient than having to fast forward through nature documentaries, I suppose. People are weird.
As is the crazy diversity of junk -- some of the photos made sense, but with other ones I was wondering not just what that was, but how on earth it could be used?
posted by Dip Flash at 4:22 AM on August 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
I am sorry, but why is an interest in reproductive biology gross and inappropriate? It's literally fundamental to the evolution of species, and tells us all sorts of interesting things about the species' social system, among other things. For instance, Jill Pruetz, who studies chimpanzees in Senegal, posted some pictures of her males with their GIGANTIC testicles. Meanwhile, the monkeys I primarily study have teeny tiny little balls and you can't see their penis without a lot of work with binoculars. That could just be a meaningless thing, but it turns out that testicle size is related to sperm competition and the size disparity is because chimps mate promiscuously in groups with lots of males making with the same female, while male Diana monkeys are the only adult males in their group and just don't have to expend that much energy on manufacturing sperm. Cool, yeah?
Jill also posted a picture of some of her female chimps' sexual swellings. They indicate the stage females are at in their estrous cycle, and probably incite male competition to mate with her, ensuring that the most competitive males will be the ones to mate and father her offspring. There's also some suggestion that this confuses paternity, which can be important in species where infanticide is common. Not surprisingly, my females don't have external signs of ovulation, probably because there's nobody for them to incite to compete - since there's only that one male. But! This doesn't hold true all the time, because there is a monkey called the olive colobus which lives in very small groups (one or two males, two or three females). Males have pretty average sized genitals, but females have sexual swellings! Why? This makes not a lot of sense given current understanding of and theories about primate reproductive strategies.
So no, all of us posting pictures and studying our species' genitals are not just perves with a prurient, giggling interest in dicks (though some things, like vervet monkeys' bright blue testicles and bright red penis, or scrotal tufts, or the aforementioned echidna penis are just goofy and cool for their own sake). We are doing well-rounded natural history and observational and experimental research on a topic that is understudied BECAUSE when you say you want to understand the way reproductive tissue functions across species, or look at external female genitalia across species to correlate aggression, testosterone concentrations, and degree of masculinization, or whatever, the general public thinks you're in it for the sex and perversity. Nah - it's just really cool!
posted by ChuraChura at 5:54 AM on August 27, 2015 [22 favorites]
Jill also posted a picture of some of her female chimps' sexual swellings. They indicate the stage females are at in their estrous cycle, and probably incite male competition to mate with her, ensuring that the most competitive males will be the ones to mate and father her offspring. There's also some suggestion that this confuses paternity, which can be important in species where infanticide is common. Not surprisingly, my females don't have external signs of ovulation, probably because there's nobody for them to incite to compete - since there's only that one male. But! This doesn't hold true all the time, because there is a monkey called the olive colobus which lives in very small groups (one or two males, two or three females). Males have pretty average sized genitals, but females have sexual swellings! Why? This makes not a lot of sense given current understanding of and theories about primate reproductive strategies.
So no, all of us posting pictures and studying our species' genitals are not just perves with a prurient, giggling interest in dicks (though some things, like vervet monkeys' bright blue testicles and bright red penis, or scrotal tufts, or the aforementioned echidna penis are just goofy and cool for their own sake). We are doing well-rounded natural history and observational and experimental research on a topic that is understudied BECAUSE when you say you want to understand the way reproductive tissue functions across species, or look at external female genitalia across species to correlate aggression, testosterone concentrations, and degree of masculinization, or whatever, the general public thinks you're in it for the sex and perversity. Nah - it's just really cool!
posted by ChuraChura at 5:54 AM on August 27, 2015 [22 favorites]
So you're saying biologists are studying junk for the articles?
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:36 AM on August 27, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:36 AM on August 27, 2015 [4 favorites]
"...pretty much all biologists love junk."
Eukaryote-ist!
posted by ubersturm at 7:16 AM on August 27, 2015
Eukaryote-ist!
posted by ubersturm at 7:16 AM on August 27, 2015
More on dick spines (or spines on intromittent organs more generally) from me in a minute, but it's not like eukaryotes are the only living things with genitals out there. What else is a pilus for?
posted by sciatrix at 8:22 AM on August 27, 2015
posted by sciatrix at 8:22 AM on August 27, 2015
Related: “This is the one I was hoping for,” he said. “It’s a common enough thing, but it has a fairly rococo penis.”
posted by Kabanos at 9:38 AM on August 27, 2015
posted by Kabanos at 9:38 AM on August 27, 2015
Yes, it's cool, and I know sexual selection is sort of the major engine that drives evolution, and it's fascinating and important work. I know you guys aren't perving.
I meant to say that *I* felt a bit like a voyeur looking at that python's alien-looking pythons (probably a bit due to the "junk off" descriptor, but probably would have anyway, and probably would have just looking at the python or bat or whatever completely absent the POV shots, because frankly, I'm a little creeped out by most of Nature's viscerality and weirdness, full-stop.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:15 AM on August 27, 2015
I meant to say that *I* felt a bit like a voyeur looking at that python's alien-looking pythons (probably a bit due to the "junk off" descriptor, but probably would have anyway, and probably would have just looking at the python or bat or whatever completely absent the POV shots, because frankly, I'm a little creeped out by most of Nature's viscerality and weirdness, full-stop.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:15 AM on August 27, 2015
TIL about imposex in whelks!
posted by en forme de poire at 1:33 AM on August 28, 2015
posted by en forme de poire at 1:33 AM on August 28, 2015
They're having a new contest, a #cuteoff! Squee!
posted by Room 641-A at 8:41 PM on September 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Room 641-A at 8:41 PM on September 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
(Gaze upon the cuteness of my study species and despair!)
posted by ChuraChura at 10:01 AM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by ChuraChura at 10:01 AM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
/dies of despair
/revives because....
Look at this adorable rtha!
posted by rtha at 10:05 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
/revives because....
Look at this adorable rtha!
posted by rtha at 10:05 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
The botanists seem not to be faring well in the #CuteOff, but I did my best...
posted by pemberkins at 6:05 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by pemberkins at 6:05 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
pemberkins, we have those around here and they are definitely cute!
posted by Room 641-A at 2:35 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Room 641-A at 2:35 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
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someone alert Chura
posted by sciatrix at 9:03 PM on August 26, 2015 [6 favorites]