Shouldn't it be easy to attach a sensor at the belly of the turtle that alarms staff when it happens. Sounds like an actual no-brainer use for modern technology.
replyI raised market-sheep when I was younger and during breeding the ram wears a harness with colored chalk on the underside. You then have visual cues for which ewes are likely to become pregnant.
replyDo you do something special for these ewes, like give them more food or something?
replyWe move them to another paddock, so the ram can focus his efforts on the remaining untupped ewes.
replyThat would probably really piss the tortoise off. Imagine if your ass was made out of bone, and someone glued a lego to it. Sitting down would be a nightmare.
replySeems more likely the Lego would get crushed and the tortoise would be none the wiser.
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replyI wonder why not glue it to the top? Somewhere unobtrusive.
replyCould also put one of the thrusters from
SpaceX rockets (or the roadster now) to automatically turn it right side up if it happens.
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replyHow did these animals survive as a species for millions of years with this flip-over bug in their genes? Why hasn't evolution solved it, for example, by eliminating flip-prone individuals from the gene pool and giving better survival chances to those who can right themselves?
reply> How did these animals survive as a species for millions of years with this flip-over bug in their genes?
replyWhether or not they can right themselves depends upon the terrain. Falling over can be a fatal experience for humans too.
> Why hasn't evolution solved it, for example, by eliminating flip-prone individuals from the gene pool and giving better survival chances to those who can right themselves?
Evolution is all about trade-offs. Being big makes it hard to right yourself, but it also makes you much harder to flip. It probably also probably makes you much hotter to potential mates.
The web is a wonderful place: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/giant-tortoise-galapag...
replyYou're assuming natural selection selects for not flipping over, when in reality, it selects for the winner of the shell flipping contest as presumably without intervention, the flipped tortoise does not breed, while the winning tortoise does (or at least still has the opportunity to)
replyThey reproduce before it happens and the brood sizes are too numerous to select against that
replyEvolution can’t compete with Joe Hollins
replyLife would be so much more magical and special if attempting to penetrate your mate could result in a slow death of dehydration and starvation, if not being torn to shreds by a passing bird of prey.
replyAlthough these days sometimes women will post your text messages on twitter, which may in fact be worse
replyIf women are posting men's text messages on twitter it's usually because the text messages are horrifying.
replyIf they do, you dodged a bullet lol.
replyPraying mantises are far swifter.
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