The remarkable and unique ways that male and female animals play out gender roles in nature While we joke that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, our gender differences can't compare to those of many other animals. For instance, the male garden spider spontaneously dies after mating with a female more than fifty times his size. And male blanket octopuses employ a copulatory arm longer than their own bodies to mate with females that outweigh them by four orders of magnitude. Why do these gender gulfs exist? Introducing readers to important discoveries in animal behavior and evolution, Odd Couples explores some of the most extraordinary sexual differences in the animal world. Daphne Fairbairn uncovers the unique and bizarre characteristics of these remarkable species and the special strategies they use to maximize reproductive success. Fairbairn also considers humans and explains that although we are keenly aware of our own sexual differences, they are unexceptional within the vast animal world. Looking at some of the most amazing creatures on the planet, Odd Couples sheds astonishing light on what it means to be male or female in the animal kingdom.

Birds do it, bees do it, penguins do it, and orangutans do it. By having sex and giving birth to offspring, animals ensure that their species will survive into the next generation. And in this quest for survival, animals go to great lengths. Some animal mating techniques may strike you as strange or gross, but to the animals themselves, these practices are essential. Animals with the best strategies for choosing mates and making babies ensure that their species live on. Without animal sex, there would be no animal life.

Birds do it, bees do it — every member of the animal kingdom does it, from fruit flies to blue whales. But if you think humans have a tough time dating, try having to do it while being hunted down by predators, against a backdrop of unpredictable and life-threatening conditions. The animal kingdom is a wild place – and it’s got mating habits to match. The sex lives of our animal cousins are fiendishly difficult, infinitely varied, often incredibly violent — and absolutely fascinating.In Wild Sex, Dr. Carin Bondar takes readers on an enthralling tour of the animal kingdom as she explores the diverse world of sex in the wild. She looks at the evolution of sexual organs (and how they’ve shaped social hierarchies), tactics of seduction, and the mechanics of sex. She investigates a wide range of topics, from whether animals experience pleasure from sex to what happens when females hold the reproductive power. Along the way, she encounters razor-sharp penises, murderous carnal cannibals, and spontaneous chemical warfare in an epic battle between the sexes.The resulting book is titillating, exhilarating, amusing, petrifying, alluring — and absolutely guaranteed to make you think about sex in a whole new way.

A marine biologist’s “funny and entertaining” look at the mating rituals of undersea creatures (Miami Herald). Forget the Kama Sutra. When it comes to inventive sex acts, just look to the sea. There we find the elaborate mating rituals of armored lobsters; giant right whales engaging in a lively threesome while holding their breath; full moon sex parties of groupers and daily mating blitzes by blue-headed wrasse. Deep-sea squid perform inverted 69s, while hermaphrodite sea slugs link up in giant sex loops. From doubly endowed sharks to the maze-like vaginas of some whales, Sex in the Sea is a journey unlike any other to explore the staggering ways life begets life beneath the waves. Beyond a deliciously voyeuristic excursion, the book also connects the timeless topic of sex with the timely issue of sustainable oceans—revealing how overfishing, climate change, and pollution are disrupting the creative procreation that drives the wild abundance of life in the sea, and how we can promote successful sex in the sea. “Hardt’s writing is often spectacular at describing the rituals and courtships of underwater reproduction.” —The New Republic “Weird [and] excellent.” —GQ “An oceanographic Kinsey Report.” —O, The Oprah Magazine “[Readers] will find much to learn in this well-written and delightful study.” —Library Journal (starred review)

All about the absurdities of animal courtship, Sex and the Single Panda: The Revolting Pursuit of Love in the Animal Kingdom is an illustrated humor book detailing the factual—and often disgusting—mating habits of a wide variety of animals gone wild—from big beasts to wee beasties. Through a series of funny dating profiles, find out more about the unbelievably weird mating habits of a variety of bachelors, bachelorettes, and gender non-binary bachelorx, from capuchin monkeys and praying mantises to hyenas and hippos. Raunchy, yet informational, and packed with helpful infographics, guides, and more, this is a laugh-out-loud delight for animal lovers and comedy fans alike. HILARIOUS YET EDUCATIONAL: The author's bitingly funny, wildly imaginative dating personas of a wide variety of animals includes factual explanations of their oft-astounding mating habits. AS FUNNY AS IT IS GROSS: This R-rated yet informational book will make a laugh-out-loud gift for animal lovers and comedy fans everywhere. GREAT BIRTHDAY OR GALENTINE'S GIFT: Whimsical and witty yet informative, Sex and the Single Panda makes a great gift for any animal lover, science lover, or comedy enthusiast. Perfect for: Animal lovers, Humor fans, Anyone who has dated or mated, Valentine's Day and gag gift shoppers, Fans of The Bachelor and its spin-offs

A wry look at what the astonishing world of animal penises can tell us about how we use our own. The fallacy sold to many of us is that the penis signals dominance and power. But this wry and penetrating book reveals that in fact nature did not shape the penis--or the human attached to it--to have the upper...hand. Phallacy looks closely at some of nature's more remarkable examples of penises and the many lessons to learn from them. In tracing how we ended up positioning our nondescript penis as a pulsing, awe-inspiring shaft of all masculinity and human dominance, Phallacy also shows what can we do to put that penis back where it belongs. Emphasizing our human capacities for impulse control, Phallacy ultimately challenges the toxic message that the penis makes the man and the man can't control himself. With instructive illustrations of unusual genitalia and tales of animal mating rituals that will make you particularly happy you are not a bedbug, Phallacy shows where humans fit on the continuum from fun to fatal phalli and why the human penis is an implement for intimacy, not intimidation.

A journey of discovery through the ins and outs of reproduction in the animal kingdom 'Written with Bill Bryson–like wit' Booklist 'A writer who blends professional expertise in zoology with charm, wit, and a cockeyed sense of humor. What better guide through nature's red-light district could one ask for?' Natural History Magazine 1,000 million years ago, a sexual revolution occurred on Earth. Sex happened for the first time; from this moment the world became ever more colourful and bizarre, ringing with elaborate songs and dances, epic battles, and rallying cries as the desires of males and females collided, generation after generation. All of your ancestors took part and succeeded – an unbroken chain of sex right back to the dawn of complex life on Earth. Well done you. Well done everything. The world in which we live rings, bleeds, and howls with sex. It's everywhere. Right now warring hordes are locking horns, preening feathers, rampaging lustfully across the savanna, questioning the fidelity of the ones they love. Birds are singing, flowers bloom. A million females choose; a billion penises ejaculate (or snap off); a trillion sperm battle, block and tackle. Written in a brilliantly engaging style by biologist Jules Howard, this fascinating and highly readable work covers the how and why of sex on Earth, in all its diversity. From sperm wars to cuckoldry, hermaphrodites and virgin births, spent males, racy harems, clitoral births, hips, breasts and birdsong, penis-percussion, and those riskiest and most elusive of all traits, monogamy and true love, all this and more is discussed in Sex on Earth, as Jules takes us on a voyage of discovery of the ins and outs of animal reproduction.