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Posted by: Cinderella

Seal caught on tape molesting a penguin



A seal has been caught on camera trying to have sex with a penguin.
This seems to be the first example seen in the wild of a sexual escapade between a mammal and a different kind of vertebrate such as a bird, reptile or fish, "although some mammals are known to have attempted sexual relief with inanimate — including dead things — objects," said researcher Nico de Bruyn, a mammal ecologist at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
One summer morning, scientists observing elephant seals on a beach on Marion Island near the Antarctic spotted a young male Antarctic fur seal subduing a king penguin.
At first we thought it was hunting the penguin, but then it became clear that his intentions were rather more amorous," de Bruyn recalled today via email.
The roughly 240-pound seal subdued the 30-pound adult penguin by lying on it. The hapless bird of unknown sex struggled, rapidly flapping its flippers and attempting to stand and flee, without luck.
The seal then alternated between resting on the penguin and thrusting its pelvis at the bird in vain attempts to insert its penis for 45 minutes. Natural, unsuccessful sexual escapades by this variety of seal with members of its own species may last as long as this penguin assault did, "but yes, it is quite a long time and thus unusual," de Bruyn told LiveScience.
The seal then abruptly gave up, moving to sea and completely ignoring the target of its affections. The penguin apparently did not suffer any injury. The scientists detailed their findings in the May issue of the Journal of Ethology.
Sexual harassment is common in the animal kingdom — "Homo sapiens are often testimony to that," de Bruyn said.
Many species perform some form of sexual harassment on members of their own species, "for a variety of reasons many of which are hotly debated," he added.
Many species of seal are polygynous, where one male mates with many females. The males often fight each other to control females.
"This system thus promotes extreme aggression in males towards each other, and if a male cannot control a beach, this aggression may spill over to sexual aggression directed at outlying females, pups or even in rare cases other seal species," de Bruyn said.
And this sexual aggression apparently might leap well beyond the species gap.
The Antarctic fur seals of Marion Island are the only seals known to eat king penguins. The thrill of the hunt felt by the seal the researchers saw may have channeled into its sex drive, as the mating season had just come to an end.
"It may have wanted to eat it and half-way through the chase changed its mind," de Bruyn speculated. "I personally believe the link between aggressive and sexual behavior is evolutionarily far closer linked than we currently believe. This has obvious implications for humans."



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24585481/

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Posted by: frank

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Posted by: OCKS

Cinderella where do you find these articles?

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Posted by: NewEngland2007

For a second I thought this was going to be a sad story about Heidi Klum's man.

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Posted by: Officer Dunngeon

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewEngland2007 For a second I thought this was going to be a sad story about Heidi Klum's man.

+1

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Posted by: CJIS

This reminds me of a joke!


A penguin is taking a road trip when his car suddenly breaks down. Luckily for him, he finds himself just down the street from a mechanic. So,he pushes his car to the shop and asks the mechanic to take a look. The mechanic tells him that it will probably take a little while to find the problem and asks him to come back in an hour.

The penguin goes over to the supermarket, buys some fish sticks and vanilla ice cream, and spends the rest of the hour hanging out in the frozen section. After the hour is up, he waddles over to the mechanic's shop.

Seeing him come in, the mechanic walks over, and wiping his hands on a rag, says, 'Looks like you've blown a seal.'

The penguin blushes, wipes his beak with his flipper and says, 'No, it's just vanilla ice cream.'

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Posted by: lpwpd722

That was cold.

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Posted by: Tuna

what does tupperware and penquins have in common?
they both like a tight seal

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