Emily M’s Reviews > Bitch: On the Female of the Species > Status Update

Re. clownfish that turn from male to female: “The transitioning fish thus had a female brain but male gonads…but Rhodes is certain that, if asked, the fish would say it’s female…All he has to do is put them in fish in a tank with another female, and they are guaranteed to fight…these transitional fish both behave like females and are recognized as females by other fish, even though they have testes.”

"Laura Bush...commended the albatross couples for making lifelong commitments to one another. What no one, least of all Bush, knew at the time was over a third of those committed couples were, to put it anthropomorphically, lesbians" "An obscure...paper from 1977 documenting 'supernormal clutches' and female-female 'homosexual pairs' of Western Gulls...indicates the are are certainly more Sapphic seabird parents."

"I felt an inspiring sense of communion with this [menopausal] killer whale. Lea (like me) was a social creature embarking on the next phase of her life. For her, the death of her ovaries heralded a rebirth of agency. She wasn't going to fade from society, but take centre stage - her aged insight commanding her clan's respect and propelling it forward."

"We have a lot to learn from bonobo females. The feminist movement argues that if you behave with unrelated females as if they are your sisters, you can gain power. The bonobos show us that that's true. It gives us a lot of hope."

“Mama was the top-ranking female…a position she held for over 40 years, until her death…In chimpanzees, female rank is governed by age and personality. When females are placed together in zoos, they generally decide rank quickly…one female will show her submission to another and that’s it….According to de Waal they’re maintained by ‘respect from below rather than intimidation and strength from above’”

“Giraffes…deposit their babies in a nursery, some distance from the main group, with one designated guard. If danger approaches…the sentry can escort the gaggle of baby giraffes to safety.”
🥰

Re. neurons that are involved in flipping between parental and infanticidal behaviors: "A deeper understanding of the full neural circuitry of parenting may eventually help with the treatment of psychiatric disorders... 'If you listen to the testimony of women who've killed their children...they had this enormous instinct to do what they did and they have no explanation for it.'"

“some sixty-six to seventy million years ago the Neoaves, which includes over 95% of the world’s birds, somehow lost their penis. This seems careless at best, but evolution must have its motives.”
😂

“‘Be thou like the dunnock - the male and female impeccably faithful to each other,’ proclaimed the Reverend Frederick Morris in 1853…The good reverend was unaware that this was in fact permission for his female flock to seek out a second lover and copulate over 250 times with both males in order to start a family.”
😆

So far, a mix of "well, duh, but good they covered it!" and "Wait, WHAT? Cool!" Examples:
Female moles have both ovarian & testicular tissue, producing both eggs and testosterone (that beefs up their digging muscles)
Platypuses have 5 sets of sex chromosomes (eg XXXXXYYYYY) but no SRY "develop as a male" gene, while the transcaucasian mole vole has only a singular X (but still has males & females)