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These Female Dolphins Are Able to Prevent Unwanted Pregnancies

Female dolphins have evolved to prevent unwanted fertilization by males.

These Female Dolphins Are Able to Prevent Unwanted Pregnancies
ZOO AQUARIUM, MADRID, SPAIN - 2017/06/07: Two Common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus truncatus) pictured during a show at Madrid Zoo and Aquarium. (Photo by Jorge Sanz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the extent that women must confront unwanted male attention is at the forefront of our consciousness. But a new study released in October shows that human females are not the only ones that must fend off unwanted advances. In a study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, scientists found that bottlenose dolphins have evolved to protect themselves from fertilization from some of their male counterparts.

Male bottlenose dolphins form alliances of two to four dolphins in order to keep competitors away from females. When a female dolphin confronts such an alliance, the female often has no choice who she will mate with, and may mate with all of them.

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