All Questions
44 questions
54
votes
4
answers
10k
views
Why do men have nipples?
I'd be tempted to call nipples in men vestigial, but that suggests they have no modern function. They do have a function, of course, but only in women. So why do men (and all male mammals) have them?
- 2,525
34
votes
6
answers
7k
views
Why didn't Escobar's hippos introduced in a single event die out due to inbreeding
Today I read a BBC Report about how Pablo Escobar had once imported 4 hippos (1 male, 3 female) into his estate in Colombia for his private zoo. After his downfall, while other species were shipped ...
- 451
15
votes
1
answer
746
views
How do members of cryptic species know who to mate with?
According to Wikipedia:
In biology, a cryptic species complex is a group of species which
satisfy the biological definition of species—that is, they are
reproductively isolated from each other—...
- 2,111
10
votes
3
answers
677
views
Can any species be bred selectively/engineered to become as diverse looking as dogs?
I've done some research and it appears that dogs are the most diverse looking single species of mammals. The questions that interest me is - are dogs special in respect to genes/gene activation ...
- 6,535
10
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Are there dog breeds that are so far apart genetically that they can't produce viable offspring?
Obviously, a very large dog would have difficulties mating with a very small dog and vice versa.
But putting that problem aside (using, say, insemination), considering the large variation of dog ...
- 207
8
votes
5
answers
982
views
Theoretically, is domestication of (virtually) any animal possible?
Looking at ones that manage well alongside us human animals, such as dogs and cats, we see that this is possible for evolved, distant animals to have heritable, preferable traits around people. ...
- 89
8
votes
1
answer
313
views
How was the cama's life expectancy computed?
A cama is a hybrid between a male dromedary camel and a female llama. The first cama was born on January 14, 1998, yet on the Wikipedia page it is said that a cama's life span is 30–40 years. How was ...
- 1,915
8
votes
1
answer
178
views
Is the number of legs in myriapoda determined entirely by the genome?
Myriapoda (comprising, among others, millipedes and centipedes) can have hundreds of legs (Illacme plenipes having up to 750 legs). Interestingly, the number of legs (or leg pairs) appears to differ ...
user6890
6
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Is the theory of evolution being disproved by bats?
For some species the Darwin's theory evolution makes perfect sense. I can easily imagine how, for example, the giraffe has evolved to its current appearance: the natural selection was favoring ...
- 271
6
votes
3
answers
13k
views
Are these cats calico?
Calico cats are cats that have 3 fur colors and are always female or males two X chromosomes.
I've seen many cats that will have 2 fur colors (one of them is usually white) and another, third, color ...
- 1,243
5
votes
1
answer
435
views
How does sex differentiation work in Paracerceis sculpta, the sexually tetramorphic isopod?
Paracerceis sculpta is a marine isopod species known for its unusual reproductive strategy:
female: medium-sized; lives in harems run by an α male
α male: large; keeps a harem of females
β male: ...
- 471
4
votes
2
answers
10k
views
Difference between mice and rats
What is the actual biological difference between mice and rats? Are they actually the same thing with two different names depending on appearance (are they all mice for instance and we call the larger ...
- 275
4
votes
2
answers
9k
views
Can animals also get Down syndrome?
I heard that animals cannot get Down syndrome or trisomy. Is that true and why can't they get it? They also have chromosomes.
- 2,765
4
votes
1
answer
171
views
How diverse are dogs in their traits other than appearance?
I've asked this question about dogs not so long ago, and the short answer was - dogs are the most diverse looking species of mammals because they got a small number of genes that have a big impact on ...
- 6,535
4
votes
2
answers
574
views
What determines the sex of hybrid offspring?
I'm aware of the usual definition of Haldane's rule, which says that, if the offspring of inter-specific hybrid offspring are sterile, then the sterile offspring will be of the heterogametic sex. That ...
- 41
3
votes
1
answer
66
views
Can hunting of large specimens of a species make the size and weight of the species tend to be smaller?
Siberian tigers in the wild don't grow as much as they used to be in past (in the 1900s).
Their average weight was measured 176 kg in 2005 study. But it was also said that those tigers observed in ...
- 31
3
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Is a bone marrow transplant limited by sex?
Can a female patient get transplanted with bone marrow of a male donor and vice versa?
2
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Are domesticated animals really "more intelligent," or is that a myth/misunderstanding?
Often do I hear people speaking of how the domestic house cats are more friendly, less ferocious, less savage-like, and smarter and/or than their distinct but equivalent feline-species friends, like ...
user11653
2
votes
1
answer
145
views
Are dogs affected by dwarfism?
My husband and I noticed a dog today that looked like a smaller version of a purebred Border Collie, although it didn't appear to be a puppy. It made us wonder if other animal species experience ...
- 3,084
2
votes
1
answer
380
views
What does "melanistic phase" mean in regards to black jaguars?
From Black Jaguars in Belize?: A survey of melanism in the jaguar, panthera onca by John R. Meyer:
There occurs in jaguars, as well as in leopards (Panthera pardus), a melanistic phase which has ...
2
votes
2
answers
313
views
Maintaining purebred pedigrees and how to lessen chance of getting disease?
Many breeds of dogs are known for a high incidence of genetic disorders. German shepherd and Saint Bernard dogs are predisposed to developing a crippling condition called hip dysplasia.
Q: What ...
- 65
2
votes
2
answers
69
views
What do breeders call the effect when a breed resists modification?
It is impossible to breed a blue rose or a cat with a bulldog shape. This is because breeding is limited by gene variations in the population.
What do breeders call this effect?
UPDATE
I guess ...
- 928
2
votes
0
answers
217
views
Honeybee relatedness: workers and nephews
This is my first question on this site. If anyone could help me get to the bottom of it, I would be very grateful.
I am currently working on a lecture on kinship in animals. It goes without saying, ...
- 21
2
votes
0
answers
41
views
why hens determine the sex of the chick?
So, I have an exercise where I have to correct the second part of the sentence. It goes like this:
In hens, the sex of the chicken is determined by hen, because the hen is the heterogametic ...
- 21
1
vote
1
answer
148
views
Are there animal species where some females have greater amounts of male-associated qualities than average males?
In the human species, some women ( a meaningful, though not large percentage) are taller and stronger than the average man.
Is a similar thing true in the animal kingdom? Are there some meaningful ...
- 141
1
vote
2
answers
3k
views
How do animals avoid the problem of inbreeding?
In humans, there are various cultural rules to avoid inbreeding (to the level of paternal cousins, nieces/nephews and uncles/aunts etc)
How do animals such as dogs avoid the problem of inbreeding? ...
- 113
1
vote
1
answer
571
views
Why do some animals have beards?
Why do some animals such as some Goats, Ibex, Orangutan etc, have long well-shaped beard like men?
- 67
1
vote
0
answers
35
views
Overall, for the most part, which is more important--capturing prey or surviving predators or parasites?
For animals in nature, does selection intensity tend to be stronger upon abilities used against parasites or predators or abilities used against prey? Any empirical reports would be appreciated.
I ...
- 466
1
vote
0
answers
43
views
Facial uniqueness of some animals of the same species [duplicate]
Do birds of the same species ,such as each pigeon that we see in cities, have unique facial geometries (facial phenotypes) regardless of their feather ,colors, spots etc? Sometimes it is almost ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
221
views
Limit on the Number of Facial Phenotype [closed]
Individuals of each species all have unique facial structure variations (shape of nose, position of chin etc) from humans to birds and fish etc. We humans don't seem to be reaching mathematical limit ...
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
891
views
Does the DNA of a tadpole change after it becomes a frog?
Does the DNA of a tadpole change after it becomes a frog? In other words what changes take place as a tadpole becomes a frog, and does this metamorphosis affect the DNA in any way?
I would appreciate ...
- 29
0
votes
1
answer
105
views
What species would this be?
A common way to define species can be found on Wikipedia:
A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can ...
- 103
0
votes
1
answer
293
views
If coelocanths are more related to humans than groupers -does a Coelocanth's DNA literally have more sequences in common with a human than a grouper?
Would a coelocanth and a human still have more sequences in common than a coelocanth and a grouper? Would the coelocanth and human dna basically "look" more similar than either would to a ray-finned ...
0
votes
1
answer
73
views
Bottleneck effect
Is it true that animals that faced a severe bottleneck will have genetic deficiency for a long time? Does it mean they will all look the same for a long time?
0
votes
1
answer
74
views
Horse female bias [closed]
I don't know if it's a more general fact, but in most stables I visited, I have observed that there were more mares than stallions or geldings. Typically in a group of ~7 horses I'd notice one or two ...
- 321
0
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Collecting virgin fruit flies [closed]
Suppose that you place P generation wild type males and mutant virgin females in a vial and allow them to mate. You leave this vial undisturbed in the incubator for 12 days. Could you collect F1 flies ...
- 11
0
votes
0
answers
75
views
Patterns of craniofacial topology
There are animals which are not directly related but have similar craniofacial topology.
For example: koala, donkey, mouse, turtle, parrot all have features seemingly belonging to same topology, ...
- 109
0
votes
0
answers
24
views
What are the effect of radioactivity on grey wolves in Chernobyl?
I am doing some research about the effects that radioactivity has and is having on grey wolves in Chernobyl and more particularly on their genetics, but maybe also looking at the populations in the ...
0
votes
0
answers
31
views
Is Wikipedia a good source of taxonomy? [duplicate]
I have been quite interested in biology lately,and I would like to know whether it is a good choice to look up taxonomic information there.
0
votes
1
answer
124
views
Why aren't there more Ash-Red pigeons?
My favorite color pigeon is Ash-Red, but I don't see a lot of them. I figured it must be a recessive phenotype, but when I googled it, I found out it's dominant. So why aren't there more Ash-Red ...
- 3
-1
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Do any dogs have blue iris - not just sclera? [closed]
I was looking in to the question of whether any dogs in fact have "blue eyes"...
A quick search gives plenty of information on and images of dogs with blue sclera and black iris.
Every "blue-eyed" ...
- 11
-1
votes
1
answer
157
views
Neutral genetic mutations in eukaryotic cells [closed]
Why are most mutations in eukaryotic cells neutral? i.e. have no effect on the phenotype.
-2
votes
3
answers
10k
views
Did cats evolve from monkeys ? or vice versa?
Did cats evolve from monkeys? or vice versa?
How similar are the genes of cats and monkeys?
What is the proof that they are related or that they are not related?
Most monkeys climb in trees and ...
- 153
-2
votes
1
answer
147
views
The Perfect Predator? [closed]
I’m not a biology major or even studying it in any way so I apologize if this makes no sense.
I’m curious, if say the Jurassic Park team came up to you and asked you to genetically engineer the ...
- 1