MENSTRATION SENSATION.

I know what you're asking: Do all mammals menstruate?

And I'm glad you asked.

All female mammals either A) overt menstruate
                                             B) covertly menstruate

Now it was initially thought that overt menstruation, which involves  the shedding of the uterus lining and deposited from the body externally, was exclusive to large primates: Chimps, orangutans, gorillas and humans. But it has been further discovered that old world monkeys such at macaques, vervets and baboons all menstruate. It is now confirmed that elephant screws and bats also overtly menstruate.


Covert menstruation, as the name suggests, is more of a stealthy operation where the lining of the uterus is absorbed back into the body. Covert menstruation is also more commonly known as the estrus cycle.

It is widely believed that the adaption of overt menstruation was evolved to protect the uterus and oviducts from sperm-borne pathogens by dislodging infected endometrial tissue and delivering immune cells to the uterine cavity. How ever in a paper by Strassmann (1996), she suggests that overt menstruation occurs as an effect way to conserve energy in an organism due to oxygen consumption. Oxygen consumption is 7% lower follicular phase than during the luteal phase in women, which signifies an estimated energy savings of 53 MJ over four cycles, or nearly six days worth of food (Strassmann, 1996).
Thus the menstrual cycle revs up and revs down, economizing on the energy costs of reproduction.

Stay tuned for more incite into how menstruation actually works. Period. 

Strassman, B (1996) 'The evolution of endometrial cycles and menstruation', The Quarterly Review of Biology, vol. 71, no. 2 , pp. 181-220 

 

 And now for something wildly inappropriate: