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It took them hundreds of years, but scientists have finally found that female snakes have a clitoris.
The discovery was made, predictably, by a group of women led by PhD student Megan Folwell, from the University of Adelaide.
“Across the animal kingdom female genitalia are overlooked in comparison to their male counterparts,” Folwell said in a press release.
“Our study counters the long-standing assumption that the clitoris (hemiclitores) is either absent or non-functional in snakes.”
Jenna Crowe-Riddell, from La Trobe University, writing for The Conversation, said Folwell initially showed her the discovery in a female death adder and they sought out the opinion of animal genital expert Patricia Brennan at Mount Holyoke College in the US.
“She came across a heart-shaped structure in the female tail, nestled between two scent glands, that she thought was the clitoris (or the hemiclitores, as it is called in snakes) and showed me, Crowe-Riddell writes.
“On closer inspection, we found it was a structure full of red blood cells and nerve tissue, as we would expect for erectile tissue. This suggests it is indeed the clitoris, and may swell and become stimulated during mating.
“We went on to examine nine different species of snakes representing the major branches of snake evolution. All had a clitoris, though their sizes and shapes varied.”
The clitoris of an Australian death adder. Photo / Supplied
The study’s authors wrote that “female genitalia are conspicuously overlooked in comparison to their male counterparts” and Folwell told The Guardian newspaper that the “massive taboo” may have added to the delay in describing the anatomy earlier.
“I think it’s a combination of not knowing what to look for and not wanting to,” she said.
The study’s authors say the clitoris appears to “have functional significance in mating” and say more research is needed.
Folwell told The Guardian the organ “could provide some sort of stimulation signalling for vaginal relaxation and lubrication,” adding that this may help the female snake avoid injury from the male’s penis (or hemipene), which comes equipped with hooks and spines.
“Perhaps because many scientists assumed female snakes had no clitoris, and hence no capacity for arousal, it has generally been assumed that mating in snakes is largely a matter of males coercing females,” Crowe-Riddell says.
“But a crucial piece of anatomy was missing from this conversation. Our discovery suggests female arousal – and something more like seduction – may play a role.”
