40% of duck sex is "rape"

[mens_issues]

File this under one of the more bizarre articles created recently.  The full story is here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN3046442120070501

Duck penises show "arms race" between sexes: study
Tue May 1, 2007 11:26AM EDT
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several species of ducks have evolved complicated genitals in what appears to be an "arms race" between the sexes, researchers reported on Tuesday.

And females may be coming out ahead, said the team of biologists at Yale University in Connecticut and the University of Sheffield in Britain.

Their findings not only open a window into a little-studied area of biology, but could help shed light on how evolution works to help both males and females control their own breeding, the researchers said.

Patricia Brennan of both Yale and Sheffield was trying to figure out why some species of birds have penises and some do not.

"Birds are the only group where it mostly has been lost -- 97 percent of birds do not have phalluses at all," Brennan said in a telephone interview.

"So if it is such a handy tool, why don't they have them any more?" Brennan asked.

Instead, they mate using what biologists call a "cloacal kiss" -- a brief touch of the single opening that birds of both sexes have for disposing of waste and that both eggs and sperm come out of.

Brennan noted that in many species, females choose a mate after he puts on an elaborate courtship display, and breeding pairs are often monogamous.

An exception is ducks -- especially mallards. Although mallards pair off to mate, females are often raped by stray males.

Yet studies show that these rapes do not pay off for the males. "Even in a species where 40 percent of the copulations are forced copulations, the ducklings still are mostly sired by the mates," Brennan said.

"That implies the females may have some kind of mechanism that allows them to keep control of the paternity."

So Brennan's team looked at a lot of duck bottoms.

What they found surprised them -- corkscrew-shaped oviducts, with plenty of potential dead-ends.

"Interestingly, the male phallus is also a spiral, but it twists in the opposite, counterclockwise, direction," said Yale ornithologist Richard Prum in a statement.

"So, the twists in the oviduct appear designed to exclude the opposing twists of the male phallus. It's an exquisite anti-lock-and-key system."

Brennan believes females evolved convoluted oviducts to foil the male rapists.

"You can envision an evolutionary scenario that, as the male phallus increases in size, the female creates more barriers. You get this evolutionary arms race," Brennan said.

Only if the female is relaxed and cooperative can the male's sperm get anywhere near the unfertilized eggs, the researchers suggest.

"What I think is really cool is this does speak a lot about the ability of the female to have these cryptic mechanisms of choice," Brennan said.

And it may mean something for people. "We can expect that these types of antagonistic traits are probably widespread and are likely part of the reproductive interactions of all sorts of animals, including humans," Brennan said.

The study is available online in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS One at http://www.plosone.org/doi/pone.0000418.

OK, now I've heard everything ... duck rapists?  Can someone enlighten me on this?

I thought that male and female ducks are about the same size, so might this "forced sex" merely be duck adultery? 

Perhaps the male duck assumed that "quack" meant "yes," while the feminist researcher did not assume that the female was giving consent.

Maybe radical feminists can change the rules of duck sex so that duck rape can occur even with "paired ducks."  That would give an even higher percentage for duck rape, so that they can get federal funding to attempt to stop this problem.   

Now whenever I see ducks in a pond or river quacking loudly, I'll wonder if duck rape is taking place.

I'll never look at Donald Duck the same again.  Or the Disco Duck.

Steve

[Mr. X]

Well, technically since ducks are not sentient they cannot give consent so a duck having sex with another duck is technically rape. In fact that would be the case for all animals.

And in all the times I have ever had sex with a duck I never raped them. They were asking for it, flaunting their feathers and stuff!! 

[.]

Well, technically since ducks are not sentient they cannot give consent so a duck having sex with another duck is technically rape.

Well, only in the "statutory" sense of the word.  Both willingness and refusal are sentient concepts, not within the scope of duck thinking...

[neonsamurai]

And in all the times I have ever had sex with a duck I never raped them. They were asking for it, flaunting their feathers and stuff!! 

Well unless you can prove it to us that the duck said 'yes' a British court will find you guilty.

Quack means Quack

[CaptDMO]

Well, technically since ducks are not sentient they cannot give consent so a duck having sex with another duck is technically rape.

Well, only in the "statutory" sense of the word.  Both willingness and refusal are sentient concepts, not within the scope of duck thinking...

Which brings me back to homosexual penguins.
I wonder what "thesis"brought about this research? 

[zarby]

We ought to pass VAFMDA (Violence Against Female Mallard Ducks Act)

We ought to go to "war" on behalf of the abused female mallard ducks.

We have all kinds of technology we can bring to the effort.

What about the poor male praying mantis. Dosn't his mate bite his head off after sex or something?

What about the infamous black widow, etc.

It seems to me that male animals get it as much or more than female animals.

[stands2p]

What part of Quack don't you understand?

"What I think is really cool is this does speak a lot about the ability of the female to have these cryptic mechanisms of choice," Brennan said.

That's some pretty academic language there. 

[Men's Rights Activist]

I'm sorry this whole theory of duck "rape" is just plain - - - daffy.  

[CaptDMO]

...We ought to go to "war" on behalf of the abused female mallard ducks....

Trust me when I say, That armed conflict is in full swing, usually from concealed
assault positions. There is a startlingly large community involved just in establishing
false idols, IN GREAT DETAIL, meant to attract otherwise clueless birds into the roll of "victim"

It seems to me that male animals get it as much or more than female animals.

In the case of ducks, it's generally  the ones "oppressed" at the back of the formation, yet riding in the easier path of  turbulance pushed aside by others,  that get it first.

Surprisingly, these victims greatest attraction is their prized breasts, especially when
braised on a grill with some sort of citrus sauce and a side of wild rice.

[shiva]

There was this article about a mallard drake 'mating' with another mallard drake who happened to be dead, for over half an hour. The researchers who filmed and documented that episode seemed to think that was just the drake's preferences.

I don't have a link, but it can't be too hard to find, if you're really keen on seeing homosexual necrotic action. Even in the animal kingdom, there's all kinds. 

[Men's Rights Activist]

I theorize that only femi-twits would have the audacity to evaluate the cerebral powers controlling bird behaviour, then come up with a presumption as bird brained as "duck rape."

[rantmeister]

Well fuck a damn duck! But only if you have permission. I'd say the biologists at Yale University in Connecticut and the University of Sheffield in Britain are themselves a bunch of... quacks. There, I said it!

[The Biscuit Queen]

You people are a little weird.

Just thought I would add that in.

[TheManOnTheStreet]

well, if it quacks like a duck, rapes like a duck, then it must be.... oh hell, who gives a duck!

TMOTS

[The Biscuit Queen]

DUCK!

Here comes Todd Goldman!