Where’s All The Animal Vagina Research?

[ismnotwasm]

In 2009, duck penises took the Internet by storm. Thanks to a newly published study and an eye-opening video, people learned that while most birds lack penises at all, male ducks have huge, corkscrew-shaped ones. During sex, they extrude these into females at high speed. Since then, duck penises have become a short-hand for the “ain’t nature wacky” genre of science writing, and an unexpected focal point for debates about the value of basic science.

And during that time, one important part of the original study was lost. People forgot that the story of duck penises is really the story of duck vaginas.

Duck sex can be fiercely competitive, and several males will often try to force themselves onto a female. Their extreme penises help them to deposit sperm as far inside her as possible. But duck vaginas are also long and twisting. They’re lined with dead-end pockets and they spiral in the opposite direction to the male’s penis. This shape stops the progress of a male’s ballistic organ—something that Patricia Brennan proved by getting drakes to launch their penises into variously shaped glass tubes.

As I wrote in 2009, a duck’s vagina is an “organic chastity belts that evolved to limit the effectiveness of the males’ lengthy genitals.” If she actually wants to mate, she can change her posture and relax the walls of her genital tract to offer a male easy passage. If not, she makes him insert his key into an inconveniently shaped lock. To a casual observer, the male looks like the one with the power, but the female is actually in control, thanks to her convoluted genitals.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/06/wheres-all-the-animal-vagina-research/

Wha? In control? Dude no way, everyone knows nature leaves females helpless nurturers.

In case