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Title
  • en Why Did a Female Penis Evolve in a Small Group of Cave Insects?
Creator
    • en Ferreira, Rodrigo L.
    • en Lienhard, Charles
Accessrights open access
Rights
  • en This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Why Did a Female Penis Evolve in a Small Group of Cave Insects?; Bioessays 41(6), June 2019, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201900005. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
Subject
  • Other en Afrotrogla
  • Other en genital evolution
  • Other en Neotrogla
  • Other en Sensitibillini
  • Other en sex-role reversal
  • Other en sexual selection
  • NDC 486
Description
  • Abstract en The evolution of a female penis is an extremely rare event and is only known to have occurred in a tribe of small cave insects, Sensitibillini (Psocodea: Trogiomorpha: Prionoglarididae). The female penis, which is protrudable and inserted into the male vagina-like cavity during copulation to receive semen, is thought to have evolved independently twice in this tribe, in the Brazilian Neotrogla and the African Afrotrogla. These findings strongly suggest that there are some factors unique to Sensitibillini that have facilitated female penis evolution. Here, several hypothetical factors are presented that may have enabled the evolution of the female penis in Sensitibillini. The female-female competition for nutritious semen, the oligotrophic environment, and the twin insemination slots with switching valve are considered to be the driving factors for female penis evolution. Additionally, the following factors are considered responsible for relaxing the constraint against female penis evolution: preexistence of the female-above mating position, the elongated duct connecting the female pre-penis with the sperm storage organ, and the small male genital cavity accepting the female genital tubercle bearing the opening of this duct. Understanding the factors enabling female penis evolution may also shed light on the evolution of the male penis.
Publisher en John Wiley & Sons
Date
    Issued2019-06
Language
  • eng
Resource Type journal article
Version Type AM
Identifier HDL http://hdl.handle.net/2115/78286
Relation
  • isVersionOf DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201900005
  • PMID 31099067
Journal
    • PISSN 0265-9247
    • EISSN 1521-1878
    • NCID AA10432051
      • en Bioessays
      • Volume Number41 Issue Number6 Page Start1900005
File
Oaidate 2023-07-26