Odd Couples: Extraordinary Differences between the Sexes in the Animal Kingdom

by Daphne J. Fairbairn

While we joke that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, our gender differences can't compare to those of other animals. For instance: the male garden spider spontaneously dies after mating with a female more than fifty times his size. Female cichlids must guard their eggs and larvae--even from the hungry appetites of their own partners. And male blanket octopuses employ a copulatory arm longer than their own bodies to mate with females that outweigh them by four orders of magnitude. Why do these gender gulfs exist? Introducing readers to important discoveries in animal behavior and evolution, "Odd Couples" explores some of the most extraordinary sexual differences in the animal world. From the fields of Spain to the deep oceans, evolutionary biologist Daphne Fairbairn uncovers the unique and bizarre characteristics--in size, behavior, ecology, and life history--that exist in these remarkable species and the special strategies they use to maximize reproductive success. Fairbairn describes how male great bustards aggressively compete to display their gorgeous plumage and large physiques to watching, choosey females. She investigates why female elephant seals voluntarily live in harems where they are harassed constantly by eager males. And she reveals why dwarf male giant seadevils parasitically fuse to their giant female partners for life. Fairbairn also considers humans and explains that although we are keenly aware of our own sexual differences, they are unexceptional within the vast animal world.

Looking at some of the most amazing creatures on the planet, "Odd Couples" sheds astonishing light on what it means to be male or female in the animal kingdom.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Biology, Nature, Animals, Audiobook, Evolution

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could be subtitled 'Opposites Attract'. There are many extraordinary differences between the sexes, such as one huge and one tiny. Perhaps the most extreme is the angler fish, a big fish that attracts a little male who bites her ugly face and fuses to it. That's it. He provides sperm she provides eggs and he really isn't is he?

But the most outstandingly extremely weirdly what-the-fuck, how-did-that-evolve What For???? animal is the hyena. The female hyena is bigger, stronger, more aggressive and much more dominant than the male. The clitoris is 7" long and is also the vagina and thus birth canal. It isn't easy for the male to get the angle right but should he succeed and she gets pregnant (not an easy thing for a female hyena) she has to give birth through what looks like a 1" wide penis. Since baby hyenas weigh about 2lb, this acts as effective population control as many females are ripped or die in childbirth.

Other animal differences were mainly about looks and size, nothing came close to the weirdness of the hyena.

[Ionia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evolutionary biology has always piqued my interest. The differences between the male and female counterparts of various species sounded like an interesting subject matter for a book. It turned out, not only was it interesting, but this book is brilliant. It far surpassed my expectations.

At first I was a little surprised that the speech the author chose to use was not more technical. She describes in a subsequent passage that she wanted her book to be accessible to everyone, from colleagues to those with a common curiosity on the subject. This impressed me greatly. While I appreciate authors with more than just a working knowledge of their subject matter, sometimes "experts" in their field can get a bit carried away with the proper scientific terms in their work and lose the reader's interest. This book never does that. Whether you are a biology major or not, you won't struggle to enjoy this book.

The author takes a gentle approach to breaking down the information in a way that is not only easy to understand, but also a lot of fun. Through the recounting of her own experiences with the species she has chosen to include in this work, we get more than a basic idea of the differences between the male and females in each species. She also chose to vary her subjects including both land, air and aquatic animals.

This book is written in a laid-back conversational tone that made it fun to read. The author's observations are fascinating and offer the reader a wonderful base of information that they can then choose to study further and increase their knowledge from.

I was particularly interested in the sections of the book that covered sexual dichotomy and the differences in how species reproduce in such a vast array of ways. I was also very interested in the area of the book that highlighted the challenges of internal fertilization and chemical changes within the body of the female. I learned a lot of things I didn't know prior to reading this book.

Even if biology has never been a major interest for you, this book is so much more than just science. The author has done an excellent job bringing information about the world around us together with her expertise, making for a well rounded and intelligent book that is also exciting. I appreciated the Darwinian viewpoint of evolution as I felt the straightforward approach to discussing differences between sexes was helpful and made the ideas easier to comprehend.

For all of us ladies out there who are tired of being accused of hogging the bathroom, it turns out the males in the animal kingdom are usually the more self-centered flamboyant ones! All joking aside, this is really a fun read and I would recommend it to anyone looking to learn something and have a good time while doing it.

This review is based on a digital ARC from the publisher.

[DeLene Beeland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odd Couples is a refreshingly informative and passionate jaunt through the extreme differences found in the sexes of eight different animal species. Evolutionary biologist Daphne Fairbairn infuses her rigorously researched text with elegant and poised language, a pervasive sense of insatiable curiosity, first-hand experiential scenes and learned suppositions. The result is a feeling of listening, enthralled, to the best lecturer in far-and-away the best college biology course you ever experienced.

What makes this book work is that Fairbairn is never overbearing with her extensive encyclopedic knowledge. Rather, she skillfully dispenses it with such enthusiasm that the reader is infected with her curiosity to know why and how such extreme differences between sexes of the same species came to be.

My favorite chapter was the one on elephant seals. Fairbairn began by recounting a chance personal observance of a rookery during mating season. The sense of awe and wonder that she conveyed in this scene set the tone for the entire book, where she deftly examines the life cycles of each sex of species, foraging and reproductive strategies of the adults as well as brooding strategies and dispersal of the young.

Odd Couples includes a glossary, seventeen color illustrations, numerous tables and figures and a concluding chapter summarizing the diversity of sexual selection. This is a book that professional biologists will find to be a valuable reference, while lay readers will find it to be a densely informative but highly engaging read. While at times the material may be a little technical for a lay reader, Faribairn manages to fill her book with the perfect doses of knowledge and passion. Her love for the subject matter kept me turning the pages, all the way to the last.

Read my full review here: http://bit.ly/15gcc4R

[Damona · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is ridiculously fascinating, and i WILL finish it someday. i love non-fiction science-y stuff, and i got through the first 3 sections of this one. it just took me so long to read, due to having poor concentration skills lately, that i had to get it back to the library. i'll be looking for it again to finish, though!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I always love a good biology title, but this was pretty dry. Very interesting, but very textbook-y. There were many parts that were extremely repetitive; there were some things the author said at least once per chapter. Interesting to read if you have it, but not otherwise recommended for purchase.

eARC from NetGalley.

[Giana Bender · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely interesting and educational. This book talks about extreme sexual dimorphisms in the animal kingdom. Fairbairn uses a wide variety of species to illustrate extreme differences, including elephant seals, fish, birds, bone worms, and barnacles. My favorite chapters were the Yellow Garden Spider, the Blanket Octopus, and the Giant Seadevils (anglerfish).

[Mary Keehan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be a much more fluffy book but it was essentially a textbook. It was dry reading but had a lot of interesting facts.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent dive into extreme size dimorphism in several species. Accessible read without sacrificing accuracy.

[Last Ranger · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mating Game:

In "Odd Couples" author Daphne J. Fairbairn has written a truly marvelous book on reproduction in Nature. Although this book is accessible to the layman Dr. Fairbairn seems to assume some prior knowledge on the part of the reader. While she does use the organisms Common Name as often as possible, it's always accompanied by the animal's Scientific Name and,in Appendix A, the Common and Scientific names are cross referenced for your convenience. There's also a handy "Glossary of Technical Terms" that's very helpful. Chapter 11 was by far the most difficult for me as it deals with Taxonomy (like: class, order, family, etc.) differences and for many Taxon's there are no "common names" available. On the whole, though, "Odd Couples" is an easy read to anyone with a background in reading biology and the natural history of the various animals. Sexual differences is quite widespread throughout the Animal Kingdom so Dr. Fairbairn has limited her coverage to 8 species that are discussed in detail. The book opens with an overview the animal kingdom, from there it covers the various species she has spotlighted; like Elephant Seals, Garden Spiders and a rather intimidating deep sea fish called the Giant Seadevil, along with 5 other animals. Why are there two sexes? Why are males and females so different? What are the biological underpinnings of "dimorphism"? This book addresses these issues and more in an entertaining and well written way while giving the reader an intimate look into the private lives of some unusual animals. Male Elephant Seal are much larger than the females while, at the other extreme, in Yellow Garden Spiders and Seadevils it's the females that are truly huge when compared to the males. If you're wondering how and why this works "Odd Couples" is a good place to start. The book is illustrated with many charts, graphs and some B&W photos and a section of Color Plates that are quite good ( located at page 182 ). I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in biology and evolution and how it works. While I had no downloading problems with this Kindle edition I did notice a technical issue that the publishers should have caught in the first place: the "Links" for the charts and graphs works just fine but the "Color Plate Links" does not function. Not a big issue but when the text refers you to a specific plate it would be nice if the link took you to that plate. That problem aside, this is a very good book that I'm glad to have in my collection.

Last Ranger

[Waylaid · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book that includes specific data on animals with large sex differences. However, it doesn't really go into the reasons for such sex differences in a general sense, rather it does so in a specific sense, for each particular animal. For those interested in the general causes of sex differences it could be of limited value, but as a data-based text that examines particular cases it is quite interesting.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it to be a very curious and interesting book, well worth reading for anyone with even a marginal interest in the animal Kingdom. It really capitivated me and I couldn't put it down. Essentially it's a collection of short stories of different and remarkable animal species.

[Tracy Schillemore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very sciencey.