12: Thermal Biology, Why we have Periods, and Stickers

What do heat and temperature have to do with biology? (It turns out, a lot!) We know what periods are, but why do humans have them? And stickers are delightful but how did they come about?

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We also learn about: what is heat? endotherms ectotherms homeotherms heterotherms and poikilotherms, being warm blooded evolved twice, heat generating plants, naked mole rats are weird, the podcast's stable of strange animals grows, kleptothermy, everyone huddles, which animals have periods? mansplaining periods, elphant shrews, convergent evolution of periods, spontaneous decidualization, "pregnancy is parasitic", women's reproductive research is underfunded, georgian beauty standards, stamp based tangents, bumper stickers, and our favorite stickers.            

Sources:                

Richard Feynman's "Six Easy Pieces" Book

Endotherms and Ectotherms

Thermoregulation

Oryx Heterothermy

Quelea High Body Temperature

McKechnie's Blog Post on the paper

The evolution of Endothermy

Beehive Temperature Regulation

Desert Ant Thermotolerance

Thermogenesis in Plants

Color Changing Thermal Biology

Sloth Poikilothermy

More Sloth Poikilothermy

Poikilothermy and Huddling in Naked Mole Rats

Kleptothermy

Forbes: Why Did Women Evolve Periods?

Decidualization

The Evolution of Menstruation: A New Model for Genetic Assimilation

The Significance and Evolution of Menstruation

Grackhouse's History of Stickers

The History of Sticker Printing

The History of Postage Stamps

Avery Dennison History

Smithers: The Value of the Sticker Market