Behavior genetics, speciation, neuroscience. Prof @WesternU. Interested in social justice, painting, nature. Pro offspring wrangler. CanericanšØš¦šŗšø she/her
Based in Canada
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So, five years ago my husband died. This is what my teen (lovingly) got her new stepdad. š
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Speciation folks! Registration for the Gordon Conference on Speciation is now open. Held in Ventura, CA. Spread the word!
grc.org/speciation-conferencā¦
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Vermont!
Iāve now been to all 50 states.
And also now seen the worldās tallest filing cabinet. š
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#SexySaturday time!
YOU THINK YOU HAVE IT BAD?
Anglerfish live in the dark. A male fortunate to find a female latches on permanently with his mouth, partly dissolves, & becomes just a fused sperm sac. Some species males donāt even have digestive systems. 99% die starving virgins
ALT Image of a large anglerfish female with a tiny anglerfish make fused to her side.
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4 yrs ago my husband died.
3.5 yrs ago his wife died.
1 year ago we met
And fell into deep, beautiful, joyful, incredible love.
Yesterday:
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Wow. Engineering, you have issues. Words used in teaching evaluations, by gender. šÆ from benschmidt.org
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It's not all skewed in men's favor. Men are far more often called a 'jerk' and women are more often 'caring', for example...
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Even terms you might think would be more often associated with men, such as 'angry' or 'aggressive' are used more in evaluations of women. I don't think this is because women more often show these traits, but rather it's inexcusable to students if they do.
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Here, I used common gender-neutral terms for ineffective teaching, and all are used more often when referring to female instructors.
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As teaching evaluation season is upon us, a reminder that they can be incredibly biased. This is readily visualized using benschmidt.org, which lets you search ratings by keyword. Here I used common gender-neutral terms for intelligence - all used more often for males.š§µ
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My bday is the day after my husbandās death, so we now embrace its crappiness with DUMPSTER FIRE BIRTHDAY CAKE.
Behold, this yearās magnificent rendition! Additional trolling in that Iām not actually turning 49 this year, lol.
My bday is the day after my husbandās death, so I havenāt been up for celebrating the past couple of years. Today my 14yo wanted to salvage the day by making me a cake, while acknowledging the dayās crappiness. I bring you the DUMPSTER FIRE BIRTHDAY CAKE.
Best. Cake. Ever!!
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#SexySaturday time!
Dolphins know where itās at, and have interesting sex lives. Lots of foreplay, multiple sexual positions, masturbation, and same-sex acts in both males and females. Thereās even cases of them making sexual advances towards other species, including humans!
ALT Image of a dolphin, looking smugly satisfied.
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#SexySaturday time!
Female pandas only mate a couple days per year, and are rarely in the mood in captivity. Zoos figured out that showing them videos of other pandas doing the deed dramatically increases their willingness to mate. Essentially, panda porn. š¼
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#SexySaturday time!
SLOW BUT MIGHTY! Turtle penises are hidden in his cloaca, a hole for pee, poop & sex. It emerges & swells to half (or more!) the maleās length, with flared moving flaps on the head. Their huge penis likely evolved to bridge the distance caused by their shells
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#SexySaturday time!
MAKE IT RAIN! Female porcupines are only fertile for 12 hours per year. During this time, males climb trees over potential mates and soak the females with urine. If she likes how his pee smells, she will mate with him, copulating until he's exhausted.
ALT A porcupine in a tree.
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#SexySaturday time!
PERMANENT ERECTION! Male alligators have permanently erect penises, due to many layers of stiff collagen. The 6ā penis stays fully inside their reproductive opening, bursting out when thereās pressure on his abdomen, a crucial part of gator sexy-times.
ALT Two alligators mating.
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Itās #SexySaturday fact time!
FEMALE PENIS! Female Neotrogla have a phallus. Females penetrate males, mating for up to 70hrs, while he transfers sperm to her. If the two are force separated during mating, the maleās insides are ripped out while the female remains intact. š¬
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Another #SexySaturday reproduction fact!
SEX TO THE DEATH! Antechinus males mate so intensely (14+ hrs straight, day after day) that their bodies break down: internal bleeding, hair falling out, gangrene. They keep chasing tail until their eventual death, about two weeks in.š³
ALT Image of two small mouse-like Antechinus marsupials mating.
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Another cool reproduction fact for #SexySaturday!
Like your nose, human sperm also has odorant receptors (ORs)! These are thought to help the sperm navigate towards the egg. Thereās also ORs in testicular tissue, which may detect cues about a female during sex.
ALT Picture of sperm
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Incredible gift: baculum (penis bone) earrings! My partner clearly knows me. š ā¤ļø
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Another cool reproduction fact for #SexySaturday!
Whiptail lizards are all females, and reproduce by (essentially) making clones. Weirdly, they retained copulation as the trigger for ovulation, so the females mock-mate each other to make eggs.
ALT Two female whiptail lizards, one on top of the other, in a mock copulation embrace.
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Another cool reproduction fact for #SexySaturday!
Female fireflies of the genus Photuris, also called "femmes fatales," prey on male fireflies of the genus Photinus. The females mimic the mating flash signal of the Photinus female, luring in the males to eat them.
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Another cool reproduction fact for #SexySaturday!
Female hyenasā 8 inch long clitoris has a single opening used for urination, sex, and birth. Its incredible length results in 10% of first time mothers and 50% of cubs dying in birth. š® Why it evolved this way is still debated.
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Another cool reproduction fact for #SexySaturday.
DETACHABLE GENITALS! A male Japanese sea wormās genitals have eyes and swimming bristles. When mature, he detaches it from his body and it swims off on its own to find a mate. š¤Æ
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Cool reproduction fact for #SexySaturday (a holiday I made up to justify this post!):
Kangaroos have THREE VAGINAS! Two for ovulation and a third one for birthing that only forms a when the kangaroo is pregnant.
ALT Drawing of kangaroo three vaginas, with two on the outside where sperm travels and urinary tubes pass down, and a central one where the joey (baby kangaroo) travels during birth. Image credit: Anna Gardiner.
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Cool reproduction fact:
Kiwis lay eggs that are up to 1/4 of their body weight (!!). Since kiwis can't fly, they can't make nests in had-to-reach places. So the female incubates the eggs until development is almost complete, reducing chances of predation.
ALT x-ray image of a kiwi bird with an egg that is developing inside of the bird. The egg is enormous, filing most of the body cavity.
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Giving a talk @ubc and have thoroughly enjoyed the company of @judithmank and @EJRideout. Excited to reconnect this afternoon with @ke_marshall!
And of course Iām also enjoying the truly lovely UBC campus.
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This is me right after I finished grad school in 2003.
Funding from @NSERC_CRSNG for grad student and postdoc salaries has not gone up since then, but cost of living has doubled. This has to change.
#SupportOurScience
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This came up on the trail camera at my property on the Bruce Peninsula. š® Is it a bobcat? Lynx?
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My bday is the day after my husbandās death, so I havenāt been up for celebrating the past couple of years. Today my 14yo wanted to salvage the day by making me a cake, while acknowledging the dayās crappiness. I bring you the DUMPSTER FIRE BIRTHDAY CAKE.
Best. Cake. Ever!!
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The results from my first time throwing pottery on a wheel. Iām really happy with how they turned out!
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OMG my kid just mock-proposed to me and asked if Iād take her āhandā in marriage! š
#Thing
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