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Serotine bats that have penises seven times longer and wider than their female counterparts' vaginas are the first known mammals to engage in non-penetrative sex.
Bats with "disproportionately large" penises that don't fit inside the females' vaginas are the only mammals known to have sex without penetration, scientists have discovered.
Mammals usually mate via penetrative sex, but serotine bats (Eptesicus serotinus) have evolved a different strategy. Instead of inserting their penis into the female's vagina, males use their oversized genitalia to push aside their partner's tail sheath, before pressing up against her vulva for up to 12 hours, according to a study published Monday (Nov. 20) in the journal Current Biology.
"We had observed that these bats have disproportionately long penises, and we were always wondering 'how does that work?'," lead author Nicolas Fasel, a postdoctoral researcher and evolutionary biologist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, said in a statement shared with Live Science.
It turns out, it doesn't work — at least not like in other mammals. Their penises are seven times longer and wider than the females' vaginal openings when erect, making post-erection penetrative sex impossible.
www.livescience.com
Bats with "disproportionately large" penises that don't fit inside the females' vaginas are the only mammals known to have sex without penetration, scientists have discovered.
Mammals usually mate via penetrative sex, but serotine bats (Eptesicus serotinus) have evolved a different strategy. Instead of inserting their penis into the female's vagina, males use their oversized genitalia to push aside their partner's tail sheath, before pressing up against her vulva for up to 12 hours, according to a study published Monday (Nov. 20) in the journal Current Biology.
"We had observed that these bats have disproportionately long penises, and we were always wondering 'how does that work?'," lead author Nicolas Fasel, a postdoctoral researcher and evolutionary biologist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, said in a statement shared with Live Science.
It turns out, it doesn't work — at least not like in other mammals. Their penises are seven times longer and wider than the females' vaginal openings when erect, making post-erection penetrative sex impossible.
Bats with weirdly giant penis have sex for up to 12 hours in a way never seen in mammals before
Serotine bats that have penises seven times longer and wider than their female counterparts' vaginas are the first known mammals to engage in non-penetrative sex.
