As we begin our unit on the endocrine and reproductive systems read this interesting story on "Lizard Birth!" Make sure you read the ENTIRE story!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Link to Human Anatomy and Physiology Case Studies
Biology Assignment Calendar
Link to Ecology Case Studies
Class Resources
Shellem Biology (Periods 1 & 7)
Ms. Doering's Biology (Periods 5 & 6)
Dr. C's Biology (Periods 3 & 4)
Relevant Web Sites
Recognize this guy?
10 comments:
I have to say I was a little surprised by the ending (what the lizard was actually doing) but it makes sense. In Sophomore Health, we just had a lesson on masturbation and Ayize explained that it is natural for even pre-adolescent children to masturbate. That other animals would do this too is understandable.
As for the giving birth thing, don't some lizards give live births? I though gila monsters did, but just looked it up and it seems the lay eggs. Are there any exceptions?
I think the most amusing part of this story was that the fact that lizards lay eggs is quite a common one but that as soon as the people had to put it into action they completely forget about it. And actually, at least I was, also completely duped; so I guess the reader is put into the same situation as well. I liked this.
Wow... My family did the exact same thing with our cat. It was stretched out on the floor in a weird way, so we thought it was sick. The funny thing was that it purred the whole way to the vets.
Shellem it totally sounds like you wrote that. and of COURSE lizards lay eggs...i knew there was something fishy.
haha this article had a twist that i did not expect. I guess it makes one think how much other animals... even lizards... are similar to humans. and i love the last line, i wish the vet had told the parents that to see how stupid they felt :) & I like the wife character, her sarcasm is timeless =D
To answer Carlos' question, there are quite a few reptiles, including lizards, that give birth to live young instead of laying eggs. The term for this is "viviparous" as opposed to "oviparous" (egg-laying).
Some familiar live birthers include:
lizards:
Solomon Island skink
Blue-tongue skink
Shingle-backed skink
chameleons:
Jackson's chameleon
snakes:
All boas
All vipers
Garter snakes
Another interesting aspect to this is that male snakes and lizards have a pretty snazzy penis. It's actually called a hemipenis, and basically it's a double-headed penis. In the story, the self-pleasuring lizard seems to be repeatedly everting his hemipenis.
Do a google search if you want to see what a hemipenis looks like. To tell male and females of most snake and many lizards apart, you need to basically stimulate the cloacal opening of the individual to see if they evert their hemipenis, thus indicating it's a boy.
Don't ask me how I know so much about reptile penises....
Oh dear god. I was scarred for life. Although I thought that the lizard might have been viviparous, I had a nagging doubt in the back of my head that...well, my suspicion was confirmed. Reminds me vaguely of the garter snake that we got to see in class, and our attempts to determine its gender.
Well. Yes, that story was... entertaining. The dad really annoyed me. I'm not sure if he was being so sarcastic that even I didn't pick up on, or if he was serious. Anyway. Yeah, I kind of forgot that lizards lay eggs. Which makes it funnier, because we all know that really. This was a beautiful attribute to the nature of life.
I would just like to say LIZARD FETISH! That is all.
That was sooo funny!!!!! I definitely did not see that coming. I had expected the article to actually be about reproduction. I liked the style of writing too, but I wish that there had been a few less pauses.
Post a Comment