Fancy a duck?

[Worldlife]

US researchers have found that the Argentine lake duck has a penis more than 9in long – the same length as its body. (Most bird species don’t have penises at all.)

The duck’s giant member may be an example of runaway evolution, where female taste drives male anatomy to extremes, as in the peacock’s tail.

The penis has a brush-like tip, which males use to scrub the sperm of previous mates from the female.


(from "Spectrum" 'The Sunday Times' September 16th 2001)

[Stalybridgelass]

LOL!

[Bill Stoupe]

Hey ! It's obviously related to me then

[Worldlife]

Sounds like you are a true artist Bill!

Do you sign things with a pen or do you use a brush-like tip?

[edward1]

Keyboard errors are very common, grater kare shud bee tayken wen tiepin
Hedwud Uno

[Worldlife]

Edward.... gives a rare insight into medieval life.

Suspected witches were not always put on a ducking stool

Returning to the topic though I'm wondering if the reputable "Sunday Times" has printed an urban myth.

Any ornithologists out there able to come up with info about this mysterious duck? Unless of course there was a spelling mistake and it refers to Argentinian water sports

[Ian]

The internet is a truely marvellous thing :

"Sexual selection: Are ducks impressed by drakes' display?"
[from Nature 413, 128 (2001) © Macmillan Publishers Ltd.]

Surprisingly few birds have penises, but among those that do, the Argentine lake duck
(Oxyura vittata) tops the bill ? the penis of this small stifftail duck from South
America is shaped like a corkscrew and, at almost half a metre long, is the largest
of any bird measured so far. Factors responsible for the evolution of this remarkable
organ could include runaway selection, whereby drakes with longer penises gain
dominance and copulate with more females, or preference by females for drakes with
longer and more decorated penises.

This small duck (which typically weighs around 640 g) was previously reported to have
a 20-cm penis(1, 2), which is about half of the drake's total body length and is
comparable to the penis of an ostrich (Struthio camelus)(3). A new voucher specimen
from Argentina's Córdoba province (Fig. 1) indicates, however, that the penis size of
this species was underestimated. We measured the length of the unwound, everted penis
of an aroused O. vittata drake and found that it was 32.5 cm long when hanging under
the force of gravity, but that it could stretch when fully unwound to 42.5 cm.

Figure 1 Photograph of the 42.5-cm penis of a male Argentine lake duck (Oxyura
vittata) taken near Arroyo Chucul, Córdoba, Argentina on 30 April 2001.

Like other stifftail ducks, lake ducks are promiscuous and boisterous in their sexual
activity(4). One explanation for the evolution of such a long penis might be
selection for its competitive advantage ? for instance, groups of drakes might
display their everted penises to attract females. Success in sperm competition(5) may
also be a factor. The base of the lake-duck penis is covered with spines, yet the tip
is soft and brush-like. Before ejaculation, drakes probably use their penises like
bottle-brushes to remove sperm stored in the oviduct by the female's previous
consort. The larger the bottle-brush, the more effective it will be, clearing the way
for the drake to father the ducklings.

Many questions remain unanswered. How much of his penis does the drake actually
insert, and does the anatomy of the female's oviducts make them unusually difficult
to inseminate? The Argentine lake duck offers a sizeable opportunity to study sexual
selection and sperm competition in birds.

KEVIN G. MCCRACKEN*?, ROBERT E. WILSON*, PAMELA J. MCCRACKEN? & KEVIN P. JOHNSON

references:
1. McCracken, K. G. Auk 117, 820-825 (2000). | ISI |
2. Mead, C. Nature 407, 461 (2000). | Article | PubMed | ISI |
3. Briskie, J. V. & Montgomerie, R. J. Avian Biol. 28, 73-86 (1997). | ISI |
4. Johnsgard, P. A. & Carbonell, M. Ruddy Ducks and Other Stifftails: Their Behavior
and Biology (Univ. Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1996).
5. Birkhead, T. R. & Møller, A. P. Sperm Competition in Birds: Evolutionary Causes
and Consequences (Academic, London, 1992).

Mary Ellen
Doctor Science, MA
http://www.eclipse.net/~mecurtin/au/
Alternate Universes: Fanfiction Studies
http://www.eclipse.net/~mecurtin/foresmut/
The Foresmutters Project

This was taken from the rather, er, unlikely sounding newsgroup alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated

There is even a link to an article about it : http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s366856.htm with pictures !

[silver]

- I like the bit in the last link,,

"They are being rather speculative, and it seems not much is known about this bird and we need to observe its behaviour in the wild before we can understand what function this penis might have," he said.

While not a trained biologist, I have a fair idea what its function might be

Sil

[Worldlife]

Brilliant detective work Ian
Had to do quite an in-depth duck dive searching the bottom at:-
ASCEML Alt.Startrek.Creative.Erotica.Moderated List
Search came up with:-
Well *I*'m impressed
The message then needed to be unwrapped to give the correct format shown in the quote.

Like Sil I was pleased to view the link to the picture of the monster phallus.

IMHO this guy is just 'flashing' for the girls.

Hi,

You're all a bunch of "Sad Duckers"

STS

[edward1]

Methinks you are all kwackers.

[Worldlife]

@ edward and STS

Not web-footed yet?