We've always suspected woman are evil, now there's proof. Well, 'nasty' at least:

Hey, don't take my word for it...

So... you are saying men are like sperm and women are like the reproductive tract... that puts some very strange pictures in my head. Otherwise this is very old news to me.

Women.

sigh Here's an idea; give me the grants for these scientific studies and I'll just tell you obvious stuff like this every so often. Much more efficient.

No shit! Wheres the "security" if all 5,000,000 or so got through? Sheesh. Its supposed to be "Survival of the Fittest".. Yow.

Never trust anything that bleeds for 5 days and doesn't die.

I'm curious. Is that important? Survival of the fittest sperm? I guess it would depend on what causes the formation of the sperm. I can't remember that part of my biology class. If the sperm's formation and function is dependent on the genes it ends up with, then I suppose it is important as long as the genes that determine sperm fitness also determine the fitness of the full organism that will be created.
If the sperm is formed in a way that is not dependent on the genes, then I see no reason for survival of the fittest in this case.

For once Helium is right, individual sperm potency has nothing to do with survival of the most fit.

The little Helis like to fight anyway

Depends. There's selection against having lazy/bad sperm. You can have many good qualities, but if your sperm is useless, you are not the most fit.
It's semantics, I know.

Ahh yes, that's true. I was thinking monogamously.

Monogamy has nothing to do with it.
Even if you're monogamous, you're still likely to produce less offspring than another man with better sperm, assuming the women are equally fertile. Your male descendants will have a higher chance of inheriting your bad sperm (assuming the bad quality has to do with genes, which isn't necessary), which reduces their chance of offspring as well. It's just a matter of statistics.

Of course assuming all women are equally fertile is incorrect, but it's still true that given the same chances (or hypothetically the same woman), you produce less children than your competition.

I know, Evert. I tried to avoid that by saying individual sperm potency, as clearly if your sperm in general isn't very potent you're not going to be able to reproduce, and hence is not the most fit. I meant that individual sperm do not compete for fitness with each other to any degree that would influence the fitness of the resulting child; as far as I know there's nothing to indicate that a particular sperm's superior mobility and resilience has any direct connection to good qualities in the offspring.

In many species, especially in mammals, when females are in heat, they mate with several males. The one that gets there first and the one whose sperm is fittest has most chance of impregnating the female. I think homo sapiens is one of those species, although in modern civilisation things are a little different...

The article claims that it's the one that gets there last that has the most chance.

Oh rigth, it makes sense...

Think of it this way: Although the male that gets there last has the most probability of success, he also has the most probability of catching something nasty that will shorten his life. Who wants sloppy seconds anyway? Not me, that's for sure.

Not quite "first" or "last" with humans. It's rather a "window of opportunity", which lasts quite a few days (something like 1 to 2 weeks IIRC), and pretty much anyone who gets to hit that window has a chance. If you're late, fast agile sperm is an advantage, while early in the window, slower (but more resistant) sperms would be better.
While human females don't mate with different males on the same day that frequently, different candidates within the same "window" are definitely possible. Nothing to do with civilization BTW. The only civilized thing that messes with evolution is birth control.

Bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha... *tear

hey dose this make you think of a nice on-line game some one should make it,
sperms vs the emuns and obstickles protect the egg vs reach egg. who will win who will be the savior out of the sperms than its a race.

I'm being completely serious and completely compassionate when I ask the following: Dude, are you retarded?

hey its a cool idea i thing it will make some loot or even fame.

i think ill my it and copy right it. think out side of the box young one.

The sperm can last up to a week, but the window of opportunity is only about a day, when the woman ovulates.

Whatever his issue, he comes up with some beauties.

Mate, are you writing with a lisp?

That's a rhetorical question...

That's a pretty cruel thing to say about retarded people.