Pseudo-penis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A pseudo-penis is a term used of any structure found on an animal that while superficially appearing to be a penis, is derived from a different developmental path.

Contents

In mammals, all intact developmentally normal males have a penis, but the clitoris in the females of the following species is sufficiently enlarged that it is usually termed a pseudo-penis: spotted hyena,[1] squirrel monkey, lemur, and binturong.[2] The labia of the spider monkey are elongated and may be similarly confused during display.

The mammalian pseudo-penis appears to be simply for display, although the hyena is an exception: erection of the penis (which is voluntary in both sexes) is certainly a display of submission in both male and female spotted hyena, but the female hyena additionally uses her pseudo-penis for urination, copulation, and parturition.

Only 3% of bird species have a phallus: the common urogenital arrangement for both males and females is the cloaca, through which all elimination and reproduction (via juxtaposed cloacas) occurs, but certain bird species, particularly ratites, screamers, waterfowl, and cracids (a family of aboreal galliformes) exhibit a phallus in the male, a structure derived from the internal cloacal wall which is generally associated with sperm competition. Popularised species include the Red-billed Buffalo-weaver,[3] the Ruddy duck, and the particularly gifted Argentine lake duck.[4]

  1. ^ http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Crocuta_crocuta.html
  2. ^ http://www.conservatorscenter.org/speciesinfo/bint.pdf
  3. ^ http://bio.univet.hu/salve/00news/behav_ecol/ns-behavecol-01-08-phony_phallus.htm
  4. ^ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/10/1023_corkscrewduck.html


 This zoological medicine related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../p/s/e/Pseudo-penis.html"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.