Female dolphins can only conceive for specific periods of the year however, they do have sex all year round, supposedly for pleasure. Just for pleasure?ĭolphins are one of many species – including humans – to mate, not just for reproductive purposes. Males and females have conflicting interests and try to gain control over reproduction. Maybe you have heard the term evolutionary arms race before – this is an arms race between the sexes. In contrast, the vagina of the common dolphin and the common seal seem to be somewhat accessible. Only species that are known to force mating show these complex genital morphologies. The red is the erectile tissue in the penis. These confirmed that the vaginal complexity was able to limit penetration.Ī CT scan of a common bottlenose dolphin penis inside a dolphin vagina. scans and digital 3D models to simulate various rotations of the genitalia. It is a bit graphic, but to do that, they artificially inflated post-mortem dolphin penises, put them in corresponding vaginas, and sewed them together. Taking it a few steps further, the scientists wanted to know how the dolphin penis and dolphin vagina fit together during copulation. Looking at dolphin sex internallyĪnd the research on marine mammal genitals doesn’t stop there. Thus, fertilization becomes unlikely, and the female regains control over who will sire her next offspring. This way, she can steer the penis and sperm away from her valuable egg into a “dead end” – i. In case a female cannot avoid a certain male mating with her, she can reposition herself during copulation. This is where her weirdly-shaped vagina comes into play. However, in case that doesn’t work, she needs another way of keeping control over paternity. Females might be able to avoid mating with a particular male by rolling away from them. It requires particular positions of both partners to be successful. Mating in water without arms and legs or anything to hold on to seems tricky already. However, possible female counterstrategies have been less well studied. The first studies reporting male coercion in dolphins were published almost 30 years ago. This behavior of the male dolphins is called herding and can go on for days or even weeks. If they cannot gain her sympathies, they won’t shy away from aggression and will prevent any attempts by the female to escape. In the vast ocean, it’s presumably beneficial for males to work together to find potential mates and “monopolize” a female. For example, in bottlenose dolphins, an alliance of 2-3 males will typically surround a female and capture her. Reproduction in dolphins is not always a romantic undertaking. To understand why females of some cetacean species have evolved vaginas looking like cork-screws, you need to know a few things about dolphin sex that might be disillusioning. These findings brought up more questions than they answered: What is such a complex shape good for? Doesn’t it make it more troublesome for the dolphin penis and the sperm to find the way? Well, that is precisely the point! A spiral-shaped vagina as a defense strategy Female bottlenose dolphins, for example, have a complex spiral-shaped vagina, while the female harbor porpoises have up to thirteen different folds. Using this technique, scientists made an astonishing discovery: Each dolphin species have a special combination of flaps and folds, spirals and twists. So how do scientists conduct their research? Well, one way of investigating how the different parts are connected and arranged in three dimensions is to make silicone models of the vaginas of cetaceans. Even Greek philosopher Aristotle took note of their internal reproductive organs – more than 2,300 years ago! We have to thank curious naturalists for this knowledge who didn’t back off from dissecting whales and dolphins when they washed ashore in the past. Scientists have known for a long time that dolphin vaginas contained inner flaps and folds. The most striking feature about dolphin vaginas is their shapes. For marine mammals, some of this work has been the first analysis of female reproductive anatomy in more than 100 years. Luckily, a few scientists have been shedding some light on the mysteries around the cetacean lady parts in recent years.
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