The Dawn of the Deed
The Prehistoric Origins of Sex
-
-
3.5 • 2 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
“[A] deliciously written account of the evolution of sex, in all of its bizarre manifestations” by a noted paleontologist—"Read, blush, and enjoy!” (Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel).
We all know about the birds and the bees, but what about the ancient placoderm fishes and the dinosaurs? In 2008, paleontologist John A. Long and a team of researchers announced their discovery of a 380-million-year-old placoderm fish fossil, known as “the mother fish,” which revealed the earliest known example of internal fertilization. As a result, placoderms are now considered to be the first species to have had intimate sexual reproduction, or sex as we know it—sort of.
Inspired by this incredible find, Long began a quest to uncover the evolutionary history of copulation and insemination. In The Dawn of the Deed, he takes readers on a lively tour through the sex lives of ancient fish and the unusual mating habits of arthropods, tortoises, and even a well-endowed Argentine Duck. Long discusses these discoveries alongside what we know about reproductive biology and evolutionary theory, using the fossil record to provide a provocative account of prehistoric sex. The Dawn of the Deed also explores fascinating revelations about animal reproduction, from homosexual penguins to monogamous seahorses to the difficulties of dinosaur romance.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Combining thoughtful science with sheer fun, this book is impossible to put down. The central, fascinating question asked by Long, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (The Rise of Fishies), is, when did sexual reproduction first occur? Long, who played a role in discovering the oldest example of an embryo in the fossil record (380 million years old), is well positioned to answer the question. He looks at evidence from the fossil record, examines mating patterns and sexual preferences of living animals, and discusses the attributes of various sexual organs (including the size and speed of ejaculations for males of many species). The book is far from prurient, even though it's intriguing to hypothesize how 70-ton dinosaurs might have copulated. Long provides great insight into the process of science and makes the compelling case that understanding the history of sexual congress offers incontrovertible documentation of the evolutionary process. The only downside is that he raises two important questions, then gives them short shrift: why sexual reproduction evolved at all and the evolutionary explanation for homosexuality. Nonetheless, this book deserves wide attention.
Customer Reviews
Fish sex
Be prepared for a lot of talk about how fish have sex.