Australian researchers discover clitorises in female snakes which had been ‘overlooked in comparison’; Details here

The first accurate anatomical descriptions of the female snake genitalia were released in research on Wednesday. The penises of snakes, known as hemipenes, have been studied for a long time. Some of them are forked and feature embedded spikes.

However, researchers said that the female sex organ had been "overlooked in comparison." It wasn't so much that it was difficult to find as that researchers weren't actually looking for it.

As the lead researcher and doctorate candidate, Megan Folwell, explained that there was a combination of taboo around female genitalia, scientists not being able to discover it, and people accepting the mislabelling of intersex snakes.


The clitoris of a female snake is found in the tail, according to her co-authored research that was just published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B Journal. Snakes have two independent clitorises, called hemiclitores, which are concealed on the underside of the tail and are divided by tissue. According to experts, the double-walled organ is made up of collagen, neurons, and red blood cells that are very similar to erectile tissue.

The material about female sexual organs in snakes, which claimed that they were absent or had been bred out in the process of evolution, and it didn't really sit right with her, according to Ms. Folwell, who went seeking it. It doesn't make logical that that wouldn't be in all snakes, she added.

She explained: She just wanted to look to see if this building was there or if it had just been missed. Then, her team examined this in a number of snake species, along with the carpet python, cantil viper, and puff adder. The hemiclitores were different and ranged in size.



The discovery now opens the door for novel theories regarding snake sex, which may involve the stimulation and enjoyment of women. According to Ms. Folwell, scientists previously thought that sex in snakes was primarily a compulsion, and the male snake normally forces the mating.

This was due to the fact that while the female snake was more "placid," male snakes were often extremely physically aggressive during mating. She pointed out that the clitoris is exceptionally small and delicate in some snake species, measuring less than a millimetre.

A common misconception was that, similar to monitor lizards; female snakes have a scaled-down version of the male hemipenes. As a result, hemipenes were mistaken for hemiclitores in certain investigations of intersex snakes.

Without Ms. Folwell's "new perspective," according to Associate Prof Kate Sanders of the University of Adelaide, one of the other researchers working on the study, the discovery would not have been made.

FAQs:

1. What does the finding bring to the table for snake sex?
   The discovery now opens the door for novel theories regarding snake sex, which may involve the stimulation and enjoyment of female snakes.
2. How many species were dissected?
   A total of nine species were dissected, including cantil viper, puff adder, and carpet python.