Nasty, Brutish, and Short

Table Of Contents

Introduction
 
1. The Battle of the Sexes
THE INSECTS
Insect Arms Race
Weevil Penises
The Power of One
Bedbug Penis Tasting
Fishing Spider Sex
Redback Spider Sex
Some Crickets Like it Rough
 
THE OTHERS
Genitalia Most Fowl
Cannibal Fish
Infertile Monkeys
Meerkat Infanticide
Hyena Hormones
Speedy Sperm
 
2. Impressing the Other Sex
BIRDS DO IT
Zebra Finch IQ
Bowerbird Bullies
Bowerbirds Come on Strong
Godwit Vacations
Auklets and Aphrodisiacs
The Sound of Two Wings Clapping
 
BEES (AND OTHER INSECTS) DO IT
Hot Insect Sex
Quiet Crickets
Sniffing for Sexual Satisfaction
Weta Walking
Cricket Coupling
Brotherly Love Among Crayfish
Bisexual Beetles
Cockroach Wars
Water from Weevils’ Sperm
Lying Flies
 
EVEN ANIMALS, LAND AND SEA, DO IT
Primate Copulation Call
Salacious Simians
Bat Brains and Balls
Amorous Antelope Antics
Sea Slug Orgy
The Barnacle’s Penis
Penis Preference in Mosquitofish
Amazon Mollies
Dolphin Bling
Cichlid Dominance
 
3. Parenting Skills
RAISING THE CHICKS
Cowbirds’ Bad Influence
There Goes the Neighbourhood
Birds that Time-share
Two-Mom Albatross Families
 
BRINGING UP A BROOD
Self-Roasting Rodents
Father’s Nose Best
Pregnancy and Monkey Dads
Stinking Baby Bugs
Cannibal Tadpoles
 
4. Lunch, Anyone?
FINDING FOOD
Owl Dung Nests
Snails and their Slime
How a Bat Holds its Licker
Its Bite is Worse than its Bite
Whales Lunge for Lunch
Killer Whale Sonar
Sea Lion Diving
Dolphin Herders
Guano-Eating Salamanders
The Hummingbird’s Stopwatch
 
HOW TO AVOID BECOMING A MEAL
Wolverine Frogs
Bombardier Beetles
Toadfish Pee
Squirrels Eating Snake Skin
Ultrasonic Gophers
Crafty Chameleon Camouflage
 
5. Parsing Parasite Peculiarities
Blister Beetle Deception
Ants Look Berry Nice
Crustacean Kids, Parasitic Parents
Woolly Caterpillar Medicine
 
6. Higher, Faster, Stronger
The Fastest Jaw in the South
Preying Mantis Shrimp
The Mantis Shrimp’s Super-Sight
Mandible Mayhem
How the Bow Bug Shoots Itself
Catapulting Caterpillar Feces
 
7. Even More Weird Behaviour
Washing with Urine
Spider Venom Side Effect
Termite Head-Bangers
Army Ants Lie Down on the Job
Loony Tunes
Electric Fish
Chimp Plans for Pitching
Crocodiles Go Home
Alligator Air Bags
Bird Doping
Scuba Bug
Head-Under-Heels
Bees’ Knees
Clownfish Sex
Worm Hibernation
Four-Eyed Fish
Cold, Dry Bugs
Tonguefish at the Vents
 
8. The Games Researchers Play
Spitting Cobras
Worm Grunting
Flatulent Fish
Fearless Iguanas
Running on Water
Wasp Faces: Friend or Foe
Fruit Fly Fight Club
Tadpole Bail Out
Flying Ants