Toads—Darwin—The Aphrodisiac Apple

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://blog.nwf.org/2012/06/the-love-song-of-the-yosemite-toad/

 

 

 

 

Henry Thoreau implored us to; “Talk of mysteries!†So, what could be more mysterious than the what, when, where, why and how of human eroticism? Could it be that the “allegorical apple†contained a neo-cortex-altering aphrodisiac? Little wonder Charles Darwin was baffled by it. It appears to be totally superfluous and not necessary for mammal reproduction. 

A picture can be worth 1000 words, it can also be devilishly deceptive. These toads are engaged in a process known as amplexus, a process 350 million years removed from human copulation.

 

Amplexus (Latin “embrace”) a form of pseudocopulation found chiefly in amphibians and horseshoe crabs in which a male grasps a female with his front legs as part of the mating process. The reason it is deceptive is that what they are doing has almost nothing to do with what most humans regard as sexual activity. Ironically, it has less to do with reproductive organs and more to do with the brain. Amphibian brains are only slightly more highly evolved than fish brains. They are thousands (?) of times smaller than human brains and totally lacking the cerebral hemispheres which mark humans as the most highly evolved species on the planet. Toads also lack the limbic system which is a complex set of structures found just beneath the human cerebrum on both sides of the thalamus.  It combines higher mental functions and primitive emotion into a single system, often referred to as the “emotional nervous system.†It has also been called the “pleasure center†of the brain and responsible for the euphoria that can be evoked by food, sexual activity, art, music, literature, drama, nature etc. It can be highly sensitive (or vulnerable) to mind-altering drugs and alcohol.

 

But in a much broader scope, as the human brain grew larger, instinct became less and less important. In a mysterious process that baffled Darwin, the brain tripled in size with a huge corresponding increased capacity of human values, consciousness and free will. Theologians, who regard the Biblical story of Adam and Eve as allegorical, suggest that “modern†man began when he was endowed with the knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong.

 

What this all means is that the toads are probably no more aware of “having sex†then they are aware of breathing or eating a fly. Although the world of instinctive behavior has barely been explored, it obviously has been wildly successful, even with animals that are unaware of what is happening.

 

The lower animals are not alone. Chimpanzees and gorillas, the closest relatives of man, exhibit a mechanical, emotionless approach to having sex. Based on instinctive instructions, females come into estrus and every post-puberty male in the area is stimulated into a state of sexual readiness. If the alpha male is successful at his job, the other males are driven off and he performs his duty. For gorillas and chimps, having sex is no more erotic than eating a banana. They are about aware of it as they are of breathing, heart-rate or their digestive physiology. After the babies are born the females are nearly totally responsible for caring for them.

 

Darwin understood that his theory could not explain human evolution. This obviously included the whole spectrum of human sexuality. In brief, there was no need for it. Other animals have survived for millions of years without the complications of values, consciousness and free will so why did they evolve?

 

However, if scientists can not explain the phenomenon of a sexual orgasm, theologians are not much better off. What did God have in mind when He/She conjured up eroticism?

 

 

Loren Eiseley warned that we are now in a position to see the wonder and terror of the human predicament. The spectrum of human sexuality is broad and includes socially and morally revolting acts such as pedophilia, incest, child pornography, rape and some unmentionable activities. A huge dark, secret about US College and university campuses is that one in four girls will be date-raped before they graduate. In a world that should know better, children are still being sold into sex slavery. Women and the LGBT communities are still repressed, abused and often mistreated.

 

 

On the other end, humans are capable of entering into a loving relationship with the potential of doing the most profound act that humans can do, “create†another human being.

 

Frogs and toads started playing “leap frog†350 million years ago. We have come a long way from toad amplexus, and we can only wonder how this drama will unfold.