back to article Crafty cuttlefish mimics male and female – at the same time

Male cuttlefish try to avoid fighting other males over mating rights, and new research from Macquarie University in Sydney has revealed the trick one species can play to look harmless: it can imitate male and female simultaneously. Changing colours and patterns is well-known among sea creatures like cuttlefish, squid and …

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  1. Graham Marsden
    Coat

    Tommy Cooper...

    ... used to do a comedy routine like that!

  2. Don Jefe
    Joke

    Buggered

    I think they need to study on their conclusions a bit more. Showing your 'girly' side to horny males looks like a great way to get buggered. Just all those guys in prison.

    1. A J Stiles
      Thumb Down

      Re: Buggered

      Rape jokes are not funny.

      1. Don Jefe

        Re: Buggered

        And you're an English pussy. So there. Everyone is happy now.

  3. Neoc

    Isn't there...

    ... a cuttlefish over WA-way which we already knew did the whole "passing myself off as a female to get pass the Alpha male" trick?

    1. Neoc

      Re: Isn't there...

      Memory didn't fail me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepia_apama

      1. xenny

        Re: Isn't there...

        AFAIK, Sepia Apama males adopt a uniformly female colour scheme to get past other males. They don't simultaneously wear a lacy dress on one side and a sharp suit on the other.

  4. TRT Silver badge

    But it still doesn't...

    interest a dead parrot.

    1. AndrueC Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: But it still doesn't...

      Doesn't seem to interest live ones much either. My budgie largely ignores his although he does occasionally give it a bit of a gnaw. It's supposed to be keeping his beak trimmed but either he's not using it enough or (more likely I think) bone is just not hard enough to do the job.

      His only significant use for it is when travelling he likes to stand on it. Quite why is a mystery. It's not the highest point in his cage and the edges are a bit sharp so probably not very comfortable. Personally I think he does it mainly because he's a pillock :)

      1. TRT Silver badge
        Linux

        Re: But it still doesn't...

        Bird brain. There is a reason.

  5. A J Stiles
    Alert

    If you think that's interesting .....

    If you think that's interesting, search for "bilaterally gynandromorphic chicken" -- and be prepare to be surprised.

  6. The last doughnut

    Cuttlefish and septics

    One is more intelligent than the other. Discuss.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's like the tackle between the legs thing --- from the front, female, from behind, argh, I feel ill.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    There's

    blokes all over England who'll never get over something similar that happened to them in a Thai bar

  9. Phil Koenig
    Thumb Up

    New Ubuntu Linux release name

    I think Richard Chirgwin just coined the name for the next release of Ubuntu Linux. ;-)

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