Members Neuroticax Posted November 3, 2008 Members Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 Here you go Miss Sperm Lady,I came across this a bit ago and wondered how true this could be..http://www.quickrob.com/weblog/?p=689I then spoke to my boyfriend about this and he mentioned he saw it on the Discovery channel. But then that page goes to say there's no evidence of killer sperm.. then why did the discovery channel mention it and furthermore why can't I find much about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members synirr Posted November 3, 2008 Members Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 I've seen the same show your BF saw, but it was a long time ago and I can't remember what the actual subject of the show was, just that they mentioned this theory. They also mentioned that there's no real evidence to support the theory as of yet, and IMO, it's probably complete bullshit, but I could be wrong.Our species just doesn't seem like one that would evolve this tactic to me, our courtship behaviors and pair bonding and whatnot, evolutionarily speaking, don't really leave a whole lot of need for such sperm warfare to come about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neuroticax Posted November 3, 2008 Author Members Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 I'd have to agree. This would also try and prove that we as humans are meant to be monogamous, which I don't believe we are. Jealousy could very well be confused with a "cheating" emotion, therefore making it irrelevant. Unless there's more to that than I'm aware of. It's an interesting theory, at best and would be neat. Out of everything, I think sperm probably won't even evolve to that status. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mystofpric Posted November 3, 2008 Members Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 I'd have to agree. This would also try and prove that we as humans are meant to be monogamous, which I don't believe we are. Jealousy could very well be confused with a "cheating" emotion, therefore making it irrelevant. Unless there's more to that than I'm aware of. It's an interesting theory, at best and would be neat. Out of everything, I think sperm probably won't even evolve to that status.If they do, do you think they would have gladiator style fights? Winner gets the egg? And if tehy do, can i sell tickets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neuroticax Posted November 3, 2008 Author Members Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 LOL That would be pretty awesome. Kind of like a flea circus, only under a microscope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mystofpric Posted November 3, 2008 Members Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 LOL That would be pretty awesome. Kind of like a flea circus, only under a microscope.I think we'd need one of those video microscopes and project it like a movie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neuroticax Posted November 3, 2008 Author Members Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 Ohhhhh good idea! We could broadcast it at movie theaters and bars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members synirr Posted November 3, 2008 Members Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 Sperm warfare happens in a lot of other species (take a look at the insect world for example, wow!) I've just skeptical that it would happen in our own, considering our mating behaviors. Sperm can live inside a woman for a week tops, so for sperm from two separate donors to meet, the female would have to be mating with multiple men within the space of a week, which is the exception rather than the rule in a pair-bonding species such as our own. Evolutionarily we are certainly not strictly monogamous (hell, even birds, the poster children for monogamy, are not monogamous in reality,) but I don't think it was really common for our ancestors to spread it around quite so much. Human infants are born basically fetal as compared to most primates thanks to our large brains, and therefor large skulls; infants have to be born early to be able to pass through the birth canal. Infants born so underdeveloped require a lot of parental care, and that means both parents if the family is to care for the offspring as well as being able to provide food for themselves. Ancestral humans probably formed pairs that would stay together for roughly a year or two before the bonds began to break. "Coincidentally," this is generally when that "new love" feeling starts to fade in modern relationships... see the connection? Not that infidelity doesn't happen within this time period, it's just less common. Most competition occurs before mating in our species, as the most reliable way for a male to procreate would be to be chosen by a female as part of a pair.Anyway... the whole human sperm war theory was basically developed by a few scientists noticing common variations in sperm morphology, and trying to think up possible reasons for these differences. There is, as of yet, no evidence to suggest that there is a reason at all, nevermind the ones these people came up with. That's the reality of this theory, and why I personally don't give it much consideration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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