So That’s It

Curious ornithologists wondered why birds indulging in “sexual dalliances” were more likely to produce young than by matings with life-long partners. A study has now shown that the sperm of birds having affairs is speedier, and thus more likely to result in fertilization. The study “ties up a bunch of details on the physiology of... sperm morphology in zebra finches,” notes University of Kentucky researcher David Westneat. Male finches were deprived of sex for a week, then presented with freeze-dried females to mate with; the resulting sperm samples were used for the study. (Science News) ...Of course, these results are useless: the researchers didn’t take into account that necrophilic finches are likely different from the normal, sexually adjusted bird population.