Science From The Gut: Female/Male, Part I

I just read an article on CNN.com about the killing of a female Amur leopard in eastern Russia; she was shot in the tail bone, then bludgeoned to death. The estimated population of these Cats is a mere 25-34 remaining in the wild, and only seven (now, six) of these are female. Apparently, in times of stress, only male cubs are conceived.

Now, most of you know how I feel about cats (see my sidebar: Things That Are Never Cool), so you know that was not what piqued my interest. And although my ideological self is appalled by the environmental damage (save the earth, we are God's stewards, blah blah blah), what grasps me is the fact* that breeding during stress results in male offspring.

Obviously, the production of solely male cubs is meant to ensure greater protection [more + muscles = more muscles]. Biology, however, is no match for Nature--and the current endangerment of the species [endangerment = humans are cool!] means that its own protection mechanism is its death warrant. Survival of the fittest, muthafuxr. You just sit there and think about that for a bit. I'm going to go make myself some coffee.

Coming soon: the part where I take wild stabs about how Amur leopard biology casts light on human gender issues.

*Look it up, it's real. You can Google that shizz.