Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist with a Twist

Animal Reproduction

Male Frogs, Explosive Breeding, and Necrophilia

Many frog species exhibit something called explosive breeding. This is essentially a short breeding season wherein there is intense male:male competition for mates. Often, many males will attempt to court the same female. The females [...]
Animal Nutrition

How Primate Moms Decide When to Start Weaning Their Babies

Weaning is a difficult thing to study and to quantify. Because of the multitude of factors involved that a mother cannot control (resources, predation, environmental stochasticity, number of previous offspring, offspring size, and sex), the [...]
Animal Reproduction

Mating Plugs: The Chastity Belts of the Animal Kingdom

Mating plugs are found in almost all groups of animals, from tiny nematodes to some of our closest primate relatives. Due to the often-contrasting needs of males versus females, the behavioural and physiological strategies with [...]

Sexual Cannibalism

October 23, 2019 2

Sexual cannibalism represents perhaps the most extreme form of conflict between the sexes. This kind of behaviour is observed in several species of praying mantids and spiders, and there is tremendous diversity in the extent […]

6 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Bedbug Sex

October 16, 2019 0

As a wild sex expert, I know a lot about the ins and outs of mating in the animal kingdom, and let me tell you, it sure is tough to be a bedbug! Bedbug sex […]

What Is Traumatic Insemination?

October 9, 2019 1

Traumatic mating has evolved repeatedly in several animal phyla. It is most common among arthropods – invertebrates with exoskeletons. Many kinds of behaviours fall into the general category of trauma, starting with those that involve […]