Frustrated Fruit Flies (VIDEO)
Caption
A University of Cincinnati researcher finds that when it comes to hooking up with the opposite sex, genital complexities do matter. Charles Darwin spent 8 years studying barnacles and their genitalia. In much less time than that, University of Cincinnati evolutionary biologist Michal Polak (and co-author Arash Rashed, now at the University of California, Berkeley) confirmed one of Darwin’s theories: that genitalia complexities in some male species have developed because they assist the male in "holding her securely." As published online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, “Microscale Laser Surgery Reveals Adaptive Function of Male Intromittent Genitalia” Polak’s research showed that without a doubt among the fruit fly species Drosophila bipectinata Duda, the males’ penile peculiarities assisted them in copulation.
Credit
Video by Michal Polak and Arash Rashed
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