Male rodents with less time to breed grow bigger testes

Environment 14 September 2021

By Alice Klein

A plains rodent (Pseudomys australis)

Roland Seitre/Minden Pictures/Alamy

Male rodents with shorter breeding seasons thin to person larger testes, astir apt due to the fact that the clip unit increases sperm contention betwixt males.

Studies person recovered that males typically person bigger testes erstwhile the females of their taxon person aggregate mating partners. This is due to the fact that their sperm indispensable vie wrong the pistillate reproductive tract to fertilise the eggs, meaning it is advantageous to person bigger testes that tin nutrient much sperm.

“It’s similar a raffle – the much tickets you have, the much apt you are to win,” …