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In the dark depths where the anglerfish lives, it’s rare to encounter a mate. Evolving a mechanism to allow the male to latch onto the female well in advance of
by koolba 6y ago
In the dark depths where the anglerfish lives, it’s rare to encounter a mate. Evolving a mechanism to allow the male to latch onto the female well in advance of mating ensures the female has access to sperm when it’s ready to produce eggs. Otherwise it’d be a gamble to randomly encounter a male during the short window when mating is viable.
For the male, minimizing its size and lowering its immune system allows it to more efficiently live off the females for the long period of time until it gets to mate.
- wruza 6y agoGiven that it was not designed, but evolved gradually, it is easy to deduce that recently males were just floating around, sticking, and then feeding off female's blood by biting into their body. They basically be born and eat women like parasites, but with a reproduction feedback. Remember that when someone calls life a beauty again.
- programmarchy 6y agoIt's odd that the Darwinian phrase "survival of the fittest" conjures up images of strength and beauty, but parasitism is a surprisingly common and highly effective fitness strategy.