Species – Details, episodes & analysis

A natural history of infidelity and a history of science on the topic. Listen and learn about the oldest known laws in history, fish that get pessismistic without their boyfriend, the costs of monogamy, the ovulatory shift hypothesis (and a conspiracy theory about it), the mate-switching vs. dual-mating debate, and so much more.

If you want to listen to my audio course on human evolution, you can find it here: https://mackenmurphy.gumroad.com/l/humanevolution?layout=profile

If you want to donate to support Species, you can do so, here: https://donorbox.org/keep-species-free

If you want to keep up with my work, everything is here: https://linktr.ee/mackenmurphy

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

12:38 Theme

13:42 The Costs of Monogamy

20:01 The Many Strategic Functions of Infidelity

27:16 The Primary Reason Men Cheat

29:21 Intro to The Dual Mating Strategy

32:02 Ovulatory Shifts in Mate Preferences

34:26 Intro to the Mate Switching Hypothesis

36:13 Initial Impressions

42:15 Testing Mate-Switching vs. Dual-Mating

46:35 Addressing Critiques

48:16 The Usual Caveats

50:26 The Manosphere Reaction

51:31 Rollo’s Conspiracy (lol)

55:01 Nature’s Curse, Nature’s Gift

58:15 Outro

Selected references (most key information is in, or referenced in, these texts): Murphy, M., Phillips, C. A., & Blake, K. R. (2024). Why women cheat: testing evolutionary hypotheses for female infidelity in a multinational sample. Evolution and Human Behavior, 45(5), 106595.

Buss, D. M., Goetz, C., Duntley, J. D., Asao, K., & Conroy-Beam, D. (2017). The mate switching hypothesis. Personality and Individual Differences, 104, 143-149.

Gangestad, S. W., & Thornhill, R. (1998). Menstrual cycle variation in women's preferences for the scent of symmetrical men. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 265(1399), 927-933.

Gangestad, S. W., Thornhill, R., & Garver-Apgar, C. E. (2005). Adaptations to ovulation: Implications for sexual and social behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(6), 312-316.

Also:

Finkelstein, J. J. (1968). The Laws of Ur-Nammu. Journal of cuneiform studies, 22(3-4), 66-82.

Hicks, T. V., & Leitenberg, H. (2001). Sexual fantasies about one's partner versus someone else: Gender differences in incidence and frequency. Journal of Sex Research, 38(1), 43-50.

Laubu, C., Louâpre, P., & Dechaume-Moncharmont, F. X. (2019). Pair-bonding influences affective state in a monogamous fish species. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 286(1904), 20190760.

Scelza, B. A. (2011). Female choice and extra-pair paternity in a traditional human population. Biology Letters, 7(6), 889-891.

Scelza, B. A. (2013). Choosy but not chaste: Multiple mating in human females. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 22(5), 259-269.

Scelza, B. A. (2014). Jealousy in a small-scale, natural fertility population: The roles of paternity, investment and love in jealous response. Evolution and Human Behavior, 35(2), 103-108.

Stewart-Williams, S. “Nurture Alone Can’t Explain Male Aggression.” Nautilus. April 26, 2019. http://nautil.us/blog/nurture-alone-cant-explain-male-aggression

Yildiz, F. (1981). A tablet of codex Ur-Nammu from Sippar. Orientalia, 50(1), 87-97.

An audio essay on human nature, followed by an interview with primatologist Dr. Susan Cheyne. Susan is the co-director of the Borneo Nature Foundation International and the Borneo River Initiative for Nature Conservation and Communities, she is the Vice Chair of the IUCN Section on Small Apes, and she is also a Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes; she has been studying gibbons for about 27 years. Our conversation is wide-ranging, but centers on gibbons. We discuss gibbon locomotion, life among gibbons, the nature and function of gibbon song, gibbon violence, monogamy, and infanticide (and lack thereof), and other subjects. Enjoy.

Dr. Cheyne's research: http://www.susancheyne.com 

IUCN Section on Small Apes: https://gibbons.asia/

 

Timestamps: 

0:00 Are humans naturally monogamous?

17:27 Introducing today's subject and guest

20:25 Gibbon overview (interview starts)

31:57 Why do humans have twins?

34:02 A day in the life of a gibbon

38:57 Studying gibbons

40:37 Forgotten apes

44:06 Monogamy

1:09:27 Violence

1:11:34 Singing

1:17:49 Intelligence

1:23:28 Conservation

 

Sources relevant to the introduction: 

Stewart-Williams & Thomas | "The Ape That Thought It Was a Peacock" | 2013

Fisher | "The Anatomy of Love" | 2016

Ryan & Jethá | "Sex at Dawn" | 2010

Kramer | Pew Research | 2020

Marlowe | Behavioural Processes | 2000

Chapais | Evolutionary Anthropology | 2013

Schacht & Kramer | Sec Behavioral and Evolutionary Ecology | 2019

Shankman | "The Mead–Freeman Controversy Continues" | 2018 (I'm not sure if this view is correct; once again, you can find academics on both sides of this.)

Nature's greatest shapeshifter, the mimic octopus is known for their spectacular impersonations of other species.

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CrxPPq4mAJpmmQTFIh51KzoHa1SZZv5C4dF-KyFB0ik/edit?usp=sharing

Yes, this is a real thing. No, we don't mean "gliding," or "jumping," we mean flying.

Come learn about a biological rocket and the history of jet propulsion on this insane episode of Species.

Bibliography

 

Geoffrey Miller is among the most prominent scientists on earth. As an evolutionary psychologist, he has published over one hundred academic articles with over 14,000 citations, and he is the author of several popular books. His work has been featured everywhere from The New York Times to The Joe Rogan Experience, and he has worked as a consultant for governments, NGOs, and Fortune 500 companies alike.

In this conversation, he uses evolutionary psychology as a lens with which to view a wide variety of topics, including: COVID-19, politics, free speech, polyamory, consciousness and the self. 

  Relevant links: - Geoffrey's website - Virtue Signaling book - Consciousness essay - Geoffrey's YouTube channel - Twitter - Geoffrey's recommended books for reading during the pandemic

Why do toucans have big beaks? Surprisingly, not because of sexual selection! Come learn about the many uses of the toucan's beak, hear about the bird that pays rent to toucans in blood, and discover how to make lighter crash-resistant cars on this episode of Species.   Bibliography

Learn about the defensive benefits of mucus, the origins of disgust, the disturbing source of tropical beaches, and the benefits of changing sex, all on this episode of Species.

Bibliography

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In this episode, Macken sits down for a livestream with social media expert John Oberg. John gives us a tutorial on activism in the era of social distancing, before discussing a wide variety of topics relating animals and COVID-19. John and Macken discuss the humanist reasons to go vegan, wet markets, factory farms, and the ban on eating dogs in China.

John Oberg is one of the most prominent characters in the modern animal rights movement. He is an animal advocate hoping to make the world a kinder place by utilizing the power of social media. He recently launched his own independent project for animals through Patreon. Prior to that, he served as Director of New Media for the international animal protection organization, The Humane League. And prior to that, John served as Director of Communications for Vegan Outreach. In both of these roles, John oversaw social media for the organizations which led to a tenfold increase in following for both, as well as over 1 billion views of content posted to these pages.

You can find John on his website, Patreon, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

 

The Arabian oryx is a legendary animal that rose from the dead and (possibly) started the myth of the unicorn. Come learn everything about them and their remarkable meteorological capabilities on this episode of Species.   Bibliography  

This is one of the most important species in human history, and one of the most well-understood beings in the universe. Why do we use them in labs? Are they sentient? Will they get me sick? Come hear all about fruit flies getting drunk to deal with their personal problems on this episode of Species.   Bibliography   Donate