Scientists discover that snakes have a clitoris and that it is stimulated during sex

An international team of scientists has discovered that snakes have clits divided in two and heart-shaped, which refutes the widespread belief that they lacked this sexual organ.

The study carried out with snakes of five species has been led by researcher Megan Folwell from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Adelaide in Australia and published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

“In the animal world, female genitalia receive less attention than male ones. Our study contradicts the belief that the clitoris (hemiclitoris) was absent, or non-functional in snakes,” Folwell said in a statement.

“We are proud to contribute to this research, particularly as the female genitalia in all species is unfortunately still taboo,” added the researcher.

Another member of the team, Professor Kate Sanders, pointed out that the clitoris of these reptiles is made up of nerves and cells with “erectile tissue” indicating that it can be inflated and stimulated during the mating process.

“This is important because snake mating was often thought to involve coercion from the female, not seduction,” Sanders added.

The scientist stated that this anatomical description of the clitoris of snakes will serve to better understand the evolution and ecology of other reptiles such as lizards.

Sanders explained that the study would not have been possible without Folwell’s investigative originality: “The discovery demonstrates how science needs diverse researchers with diverse ideas to move forward.”

The snakes investigated in this study are “Acanthophis antarcticus” (also known as the common death adder), “Pseudechis colleti”, “Pseudechis weigeli” and “Pseudonaja ingrami” (native to Australia); the “Agkistrodon bilineatus” (Mexico and Central America); “Bitis arietans” (Africa and Arabia); “Helicops polylepis” (Peru); “Lampropeltis abnormal” (Nicaragua), and “Morelia spilota” (Australia, New Guinea and Solomon Islands).

In addition to the University of Adelaide, Holyoake College in Massachusetts (USA), the School of Agriculture at La Trobe University (Australia), the South Australian Museum and the Museum of Ecology and the area have participated in this study. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology of the University of Michigan (USA).

Source-larepublica.pe