Mating 101

"Good afternoon, class", Miss Roxanne began as the students settled in. "I hope you've all had a good lunch today and will be able to stay awake. It's a little warm in the classroom today so if you need to, you can stand up by the window over here and try to get some air. You won't need to take too many notes, I'm uploading this and some notes to the classroom file box. We'll be starting a new unit today, Procreation across species. Yes, before you ask or make smart remarks we are talking about how different species have sex. "

She continued her lecture, "Most species do not have sex for pleasure but specifically for procreation, many go to great lengths to continue their bloodline; at times even sacrificing their own life to do so. An interesting process in many species is mate selection, commonly the male of a species must compete with other males to be selected as the mate. Sometimes this is a mate for life and other times it is just for that reproductive cycle. An example might be the Silverback Gorilla which is usually one male who mates with all the females in the band or group. Other males can try to compete with the head male, but until he gets too old, they usually don't have much of a chance. Interestingly enough because of this overall lack of competition, the male Silverbacks have surprising small penises...."

Giggles and laughs spread around the room and she waited for them to die down.

"It's true, they are pretty tiny compared to the human. The average is an inch and half", she continued to more laughs and giggles. Joey glanced over at Steve who was looking at him, then turned away flushed.

She went on,"Bonobos are another species of primates living in the Republic of Congo. They have often been referred to as sex fiends because of how promiscuous they are and how much they have sex throughout a typical day. They often mate with members of the same sex, males AND females. Females are the dominant gender in this species", she summarized."What's important to remember is to NOT make any assumptions on why one species mates a particular way. You should also keep in mind that even though we THINK humans are the most complex social species on earth, particularly when it comes to mate selection, we don't fully understand the motivations of many species. Additionally, our social norms are not usually applicable in other species practices. For instance lions often participate in **** when mating, in that the father or son could mate with a daughter, sibling or mother.... and at times males with mate with other males usually to show dominance."

At this point many in the class were perked up and very interested in the topic, due likely to the developing sexual nature of their ages. She continued on discussing mating practices for mammals, insects, birds and other species pointing out interesting facts. During the second part of class, she queued up a 30 minute documentary from BBC on the mating practices of different species.

"OK for the rest of class we'll watch this short episode from BBC about mating. Just focus on watching and not taking notes, I will link it to you so you can watch again later to take notes if you like", she announced. ".aaaand no sleeping. I don't care how much lunch you ate. If you need to stand up and stretch that's fine. Joey can you come with me to assist me with some work I need to do?"

"Sure, Miss Roxanne", Joey answered excitedly and walked past a few glares from his friends and classmates.

"Carry this box for me and we'll head down to the office to make some copies for everyone to take home. This also means you will have to watch the video at home and complete this assignment at home if that's OK?", she inquired further putting her hand softly on his upper back.

"No problem, Miss Roxanne", Joey answered again as he followed her out the door and down to the office.