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NATURAL HISTORY - Cheetah the Fastest Cheater?
The cheetah, the elegantly spotted cat gracing
African savannas, has received enormous research
attention over the past two decades. The fastest
animal on four legs has raised great conservation
alarm over its decline, in range and population,
prompting the edict that the "cheetah is sprinting
to its oblivion".
The animal has hit the headlines again over its
randy behaviour amid revelations that the shy cat
has always indulged in promiscuous escapades right
under the noses of ecologists.
New research postulates that female cheetahs are
highly polyandrous (a female mating with multiple
males) to the point that different cabs from the
same birth have up to 50% chance of mixed paternity.
In some cases, three fathers are responsible for the
cabs of just one litter (of mostly 3-4 cabs)!
The revelations were reported from the Serengeti
Cheetah Project headed by Sarah Dunant and Dada
Gottelli of the Zoological Society of London.
Unprecedented
It is the first time females of a species of big cat
have been shown to mate simultaneously with more
than one male resulting in litters of mixed
parentage. Moreover, the degree of cuckoldry was
rather unprecedented. "Before we started the DNA
analysis, we suspected female cheetahs were choosing
to be cheaters, but we were amazed by the level of
infidelity that we uncovered," said Dada
Gottelli.
Incidentally, the cheetah's apparent promiscuity may
not be in vain. For female animals to indulge in
such ecological risks of multiple mates
(notwithstanding the logistical hurdles of
assembling them), there must be a cause whose
survival value far outweighs the risk. The
researchers posit that such philandering is a boon
to the species as it optimizes genetic diversity of
the progeny. "The genetic diversity of future
generations will be preserved by their duplicitous
behaviour", said Sarah Dunant. Beat that if you
can.
Sexual dishonesty
Might this suggest that sexual dishonesty in mammals
(including humans) has a deeply ingrained
evolutionary motive, hence, its decisive survival
over the generations?
Share with us your thoughts at
bulletin@menengaiholidays.com
Sexy headlines
On a lighter note, news editors across the world out
did the cheetahs as they penned sexy headlines to
the cheetah report. Sample these:
"Cheetah by name, Cheater by nature" - New
Zealand Herald
"Cheating Cheetahs caught by DNA" - BBC
"Cheetahs are serial Cheaters, say scientists" -
Daily Mail
"For Cheetah, read cheater in the call of the wild"
- Independent SA
"Cheetah in Jungle of Relationships" - The Times
of India
"Female Cheetahs have Cheatn' Hearts" - MSNBC
"Study: Female Cheetahs sleep around" - CNN
"Wild and sexy cat that is the biggest cheater of
them all" - The Times
Mhh . . . well done, dear editors!!
Cheetah Fact File
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