For the next 4 weeks, I will start my "Built for..." series, with 3 animals featured each week. These 3 animals are selected based on their outstanding ability to attract, camouflage, move quickly and kill. They are ranked based on my personal opinions on what has the most spectacular adaptations. Click on the banner above to view the other articles!
Out of millions of animals, 3 are selected based on their outstanding ability to attract a mate whether its through croaking, through scent or just through plain old looks. This is Built for Attraction.
Peacocks
2. When a peahen comes close enough, the peacock turns his back and brings his train erect, displaying the underlying tail feathers and his dark wings, which he flutters rapidly, From this angle, the brilliant colours of the display feathers can't be seen-the bird is predominantly grey and brown. The peacock steps from side to side and sometimes moves forward or backward a few steps.
3. When the peahen comes closer still, the peacock backs up towards her, and when she avoids him, he turns, revealing all his colour and holding his wings still. He then drops the great fan down on top of the female. It quivers, making a rustling sound.
4. The peahen may mate with the peacock, or she may simply walk away or stand still, whereupon the male starts over, turning his back again and resuming the rapid fluttering of his wings. The peacock can hold his fan of display feathers up for a very long time.
5. For reasons that are not well understood, peahens tend to mate with peacocks with the most eye-spots.
3. When the peahen comes closer still, the peacock backs up towards her, and when she avoids him, he turns, revealing all his colour and holding his wings still. He then drops the great fan down on top of the female. It quivers, making a rustling sound.
4. The peahen may mate with the peacock, or she may simply walk away or stand still, whereupon the male starts over, turning his back again and resuming the rapid fluttering of his wings. The peacock can hold his fan of display feathers up for a very long time.
5. For reasons that are not well understood, peahens tend to mate with peacocks with the most eye-spots.
Angler Fish
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| Yup... That scary guy from Nemo... |
Seriously, these fish have the coolest mating ritual.
Anglerfish, a deep sea fish named for the spiny appendage on its head that it uses as bait to "fish" its prey, has an unusual mating habit. As it spends its time in the bottom of the ocean, finding a mate is a problem - but the species solved this evolutionary challenge beautifully.At first, scientists were perplexed because they've never caught a male anglerfish. Also, all female anglerfish have a lump on their body that looks like a parasite. Only later did scientists discover that the lump is the remain of the male fish.
The tiny male anglerfish are born without any digestive system, so once they hatch, they have to find a female quickly. When a male finds a female, he quickly bites her body and releases an enzyme that digests his skin and her body to fuse the two in an eternal embrace. The male then wastes away, becoming nothing but a lump on the female anglerfish's body!
When the female is ready to spawn, her "male appendage" is there, ready to release sperms to fertilize her egg.
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