February 5, 1999

MUSEUM VALENTINE'S PARTY SHOWS HOW THE BIRDS AND BEES DO IT

LAWRENCE -- Bachelor sea snails have a competitive advantage over other organisms: To ensure that any two snails who happen to run across each other can mate, snails have both male and female reproductive organs. When one snail overtakes another, the speedy snail becomes the male. "He" climbs over "her," and the couple grazes along, joined for hours.

"Multiple snails can join in, the first in the line performing only as a female and the last only as a male -- with all the others in-between performing like both," says Jama Kolosick, director of public education at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum.

Like humans, animals sometimes go to extremes to find mates -- and at Survival of the Sexiest: Dance and Animal Romance, a special St. Valentine's Day event at the museum, humans get the chance to learn more about how other species go about ensuring their survival.

Survival of the Sexiest is a lighthearted look at how wild things do the wild thing, served up with epicurean desserts and coffees, soft beverages and dancing to Swing 39, Lawrence's retro-hip combo.

There will be games designed to teach about sexual selection and its role in evolution, and winners will take home prizes donated by Lawrence merchants.

At Survival of the Sexiest, participants will find out about

  • Animal anatomy (the male octopus uses one of its eight arms as a sex organ, and to avoid a violent struggle with a female, the male can detach the arm and allow it to swim off and mate independently),

  • Courting behavior (male bower birds build elaborate mating chambers of twigs and grass, then decorate them with shells and feathers in hopes of attracting females),

  • Mating behavior (female seahorses transfer their eggs to the males, who fertilize them and carry the developing young in an abdominal pouch),

  • Aphrodisiacs based on products found in nature (including the foods you'd find at your local grocer that are reputed to improve performance), and more.

    Survival of the Sexiest will begin at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 13 in the museum's Dyche Hall galleries. The cost is $21 a person in advance and $25 a person the day of the event. Reservations are required. Call (785) 864-4450.

    For more information, call Brad Kemp at (785) 864-4540.

    Story by Todd Cohen, University Relations, (785) 864-8858, or tcohen@ukans.edu

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