This Weekend, Hump Like… Marsupials?
Via Slate:
The males try to mate with as many females as possible in sex sessions that can last up to 14 hours. During these marathon bouts of copulation, the males release high levels of hormones, including testosterone, which in turn elevates stress hormones. They get so stressed out by the experience that they will die, tragically, like an army of Romeos.
The phenomenon is known as “synchronized suicidal reproduction,” or more technically, “semelparity.”
DAYUMN, marsupials! You have given a whole new meaning to “marathon session,” huh? However, the best part of these new findings is that it isn’t the man-supials that determine the length and voracity of their killer booty-call sessions… it’s the ladies!
In fact, what previous researchers have missed is that the mating behavior is entirely driven by the females. They synchronize their reproductive cycles to coincide with the available food, they determine the length of the mating season, and they are very, very promiscuous, mating with as many males as possible, indiscriminately—old, young, fit, not fit, any old marsupial will do.
The males are powerless in this process and have very little agency. They have to adjust themselves to the schedule set by the females, and that schedule is so stressful that they die.
While we’re not super down with death-by-sex, we gotta give props to the female marsupials. They don’t slut shame each other or feel embarrassed of their literally MURDEROUS sexual appetite. They embrace it, get it on with just about anyone, and don’t care who knows it. Seems like we American chicas could take a page out of your book!
Meet someone this weekend at the #1 casual dating site on the web, OnlineBootyCall.com. We can’t guarantee they’ll have the sex drive of these little guys, but hey– they might come close! ;)
