Snakes have a clitoris: scientists overcome ‘a massive taboo around female genitalia’

The clitorises of female snakes have been studied for the first time.

The scientists say previous research had the organs as scent glands or underdeveloped versions of penises.

The researchers found that snakes have two clitorises hidden by skin on the underside of their tails.

The study states that female genitalia are overlooked in comparison to their male counterparts.

Male snakes and lizards have penises which can be found outside their bodies during reproduction. The hemipenes are covered in hooks.

A huge taboo around female genitalia may be the reason why snake clitorises have not been described before. She thinks it's a combination of not knowing what to look for and not wanting to

It's not always easy to find it. She used a death adder to remove the clitorises in order to create a triangle shape.

The death adder had a lot of hemiclitores.

Sex organs have significance in snakes. The team theorised the hemiclitores, which could provide some sort of stimulation signalling for vaginal relaxation and lubrication, which would aid the female in copulation.

She said that it could be signalling to the ovary to ovulate and possibly to prepare for sperm storage.

The carpet python, puff adder and Mexican moccasin are some of the snakes that the researchers were able to kill.

The clitorises in some snakes are large and muscular, but thin and stretched out in others. The sizes ranged from small to large.

The study found that the hemiclitores are made of tissue that swells with blood and may be similar to the clitoris.

We can't help but think that this is for pleasure, since we know what it looks like. "Crowe-Riddel" I think it would be a good idea to ask snakes questions.

The study comes after a research abstract presented in the United States earlier this year said that the human clitoris has between 9,850-1,100 nerve fibres, which is 20% more than the previous widely cited number of 8000.

With Agence France-Presse.