Help, I’ve Lost My Butt! | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Animals like scorpions, sea spiders, warty comb jellies, annelid worms, and cicadas have fascinating abilities to lose or regrow their butts, revealing surprising insights about reproduction, predator avoidance, and the evolution of the anus.

Key Insights

• 🤢 Animals like scorpions, sea spiders, annelid worms, and cicadas have unique adaptions to deal with the loss of their butts due to predation or other factors.
• 🤢 The ability of sea spiders to vomit up their poop reveals the presence of animals that lack anuses.
• 😜 Research on butt loss in animals has won Ig Nobel Prizes, highlighting the importance of seemingly silly scientific investigations.
• 😯 Annelid worms undergo schizogamy, shedding their back ends to become reproductive machines with specialized structures and even a sort of pseudo-brain.
• 👻 The existence of a fungus that infects cicadas, causing their butts and genitals to fall off and changing their behavior, showcases the complexity of parasite-host interactions.
• 🥳 Some infected cicadas are fed psychoactive drugs by the fungus, making them less concerned about the loss of their reproductive parts.
• ❓ The study of these unique adaptations and behaviors contributes to our understanding of reproduction, predator avoidance, and evolutionary processes.

Transcript

Read and summarize the transcript of this video on Glasp Reader (beta).

Questions & Answers

Q: How do scorpions reproduce without an anus?

Although scorpions lose their butts, including their anus, mating still occurs. However, the lack of an anus eventually leads to constipation and death, either due to a buildup of toxins or limited space for offspring.

Q: Can sea spiders regrow lost body parts other than their butts?

Yes, sea spiders can regrow lost body parts like legs. However, the regrowth may not always be perfect, and some missing parts, such as legs, may not fully regrow.

Q: How do annelid worms develop eyes and brains in their back ends?

Annelid worms, through a reproductive technique called schizogamy, split themselves apart and form self-powered sex machines called stolons. These stolons can be male or female and develop eyes, brains, reproductive organs, and everything needed to produce new worms.

Q: How does the Massospora cicadina fungus affect infected cicadas?

The fungus causes the cicadas' butts and genitals to fall off and be replaced by fungal spores. Infected males trick uninfected males into trying to mate with them, and the fungus may even feed the cicadas psychoactive drugs, making them unaware of the loss of their reproductive parts.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Some scorpions, such as Ananteris scorpions, can lose their entire butts, including their anus, to escape predators. This loss doesn't affect their mating success but eventually leads to constipation and death.

• Sea spiders, like Pycnogonum litorale, can lose their butts too but can regrow them later. In the meantime, they vomit up their poop as they lack an anus.

• Annelid worms, such as Megasyllis and Ramisyllis, engage in schizogamy, where their back ends turn into self-powered sex machines. They can develop eyes, brains, and reproductive organs and shed their back ends to mate.

• A fungus called Massospora cicadina infects periodical cicadas, causing their butts and genitals to fall off and be replaced by fungal spores. Infected cicadas engage in mindless sex, spreading the spores, and the fungus may even feed them psychoactive drugs.