According to new research, humans and dolphins have more in common than we think. Female dolphins have clitoris that help them experience pleasure during sex, just as it does for humans, according to biologists. Scientists may one day be able to trace back the evolutionary origins of the sexual organ and sex in general.
The evolution of genitals in all sorts of animals has been studied by a team of researchers led by the lead author. They turned their attention to dolphins, the marine mammals known for their playful and eerily human-like nature at times.
Brennan told Gizmodo that they were studying the vaginal folds of dolphins to figure out why they are so diverse. We decided to investigate how much we knew about the clitoris after we did all these vaginas.
Brennan and her team were able to look at the clitoral tissue of 11 bottlenose dolphin females that had died of natural causes. They looked at the presence of nerve endings, muscles, and blood vessels, as well as studying the clitoris' surface physical features. Everything they found pointed to the same thing.
Brennan noted that the dolphin clitoris is large and full of blood vessels that allow it to engorge quickly. As a dolphin matures, it grows in size and is surrounded by a band of tissue that helps it keep its shape, indicating that it is a valuable body part. Brennan says that the dolphin clitoris is full of nerve endings and other sensory receptors, which are likely involved in a pleasure response like they are in humans.
Some dolphins seem to engage in sexual behaviors outside of the strict criteria and timing needed for reproduction, even with humans. The dolphins are thought to use sex as a social lubricant. They engage in a lot of foreplay before the brief period of sex. There have been reports of homosexual behaviors among both sexes, including female dolphins rubbing each others clitorises using their snouts or flippers. The clitoris would be a key part of this fun-having. The authors say their research is the first to show this purpose.
While it may seem obvious that animals that engage in as much sexual behavior as dolphins do should be getting pleasure from it, we can now use the clitoris to show that they actually do. Brennan and her team have previously discussed this research, but their peer-reviewed study has now been published.
Many of our primate relatives seem to enjoy sex for non-reproductive reasons, and dolphins are not the only animal that does. The fact that the dolphin clitoris is similar to the human version suggests that the organ was created long ago. It makes sense that pleasure would evolve as a motivating factor given the risks that can come with sex.
Sex lives of animals are hard to study. Brennan and her colleagues point out that the nature of female sexuality has been under studied in animals and humans. This lack of knowledge makes it hard to know how sex came to be.
Sex is central to evolutionary processes and our lack of knowledge of female sexuality leads to an incomplete understanding of how sex works in nature. Brennan said something. You need two to tango, as the saying goes!
The evolution of genitals in various animals will be studied by Brennan's team. The list of projects will include dolphins, snakes, and even alligators.
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