Bizarre research strikes again
Scientists from Blightly Oxford Brooke’s University along with the Bristol Zoological Society and the German Primate Centre didn’t know they would deliver such a kick to humanity’s ego when they embarked on their exploration of northern Madagascar. While examining the giant northern mouse lemurs inhabiting the island, they discovered that these small primates that weigh only 280g on average have testicles that are proportionately bigger than those of men. While they claim that this was never the aim of their study, this finding immediately shed light onto the problem of the species’ naming. “We always found it odd that they are called ‘giant’ mouse lemurs when they belong to the family of the dwarf and mouse lemurs. But now we can say that we now know why – giant was not referring to their body size!”, says the research author, Johanna Rode-Margono.
The bigger picture
Testes take up 0.5 percent of the total body weight in humans, but the ratio is ten times bigger in male lemurs. If you haven’t gotten the picture yet, men would have to have grapefruits hanging between their thighs to match up their lemur counterparts. But why would lemurs have such proportionately bigger genitals? It may seem a little uncomfortable while having to climb trees and such. Northern giant mouse lemurs mate all year round, and this time spread would make the competition seem rather negligible. This is also unlike other lemurs who only engage in seasonal mating. However, this species are “polygynandrous”, which is when “two or more males mate with two or more females”. This behaviour would increase competition for females across males because of proportionately bigger sperm demands, but is it the only reason?
Size must matter in lemurs
This (well, sometimes covert) promiscuity doesn’t seem to affect the size of human testicles. What are the actual reasons for this exaggerated evolutionary trait? In an interview conducted by the BBC, Dr Rode-Margono explained that it is still unclear whether this is a result of the number of partners or due to the frequency of mating. In any case, more research needs to be conducted, and it is an exciting topic for evolutionary scientists everywhere. Let’s hope that their ambition doesn’t get proportionately bigger in this quest for knowledge. More information about the study can be found in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
