Penis size and sperm quality, are all bats grey in the dark?
Abstract Penises play a key role in sperm transport and in stimulating female genitals. This should impact post-copulatory competition, and expose penis characteristics to sexual selective pressures. Studies of male genitalia have repeatedly reported negative static allometries, which mean that, wit...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoy094 http://academic.oup.com/cz/article-pdf/65/6/697/31533603/zoy094.pdf |
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croxfordunivpr:10.1093/cz/zoy094 2024-09-15T17:57:37+00:00 Penis size and sperm quality, are all bats grey in the dark? Fasel, Nicolas Jean Kołodziej-Sobocińska, Marta Komar, Ewa Zegarek, Marcin Ruczyński, Ireneusz Jia, Zhi-Yun Swiss Science Foundation 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoy094 http://academic.oup.com/cz/article-pdf/65/6/697/31533603/zoy094.pdf en eng Oxford University Press (OUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Current Zoology volume 65, issue 6, page 697-703 ISSN 2396-9814 journal-article 2018 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoy094 2024-07-15T04:22:24Z Abstract Penises play a key role in sperm transport and in stimulating female genitals. This should impact post-copulatory competition, and expose penis characteristics to sexual selective pressures. Studies of male genitalia have repeatedly reported negative static allometries, which mean that, within species, large males have disproportionally small genitals when compared with smaller individuals. Males of some sperm-storing bat species may stand as an exception to such a pattern by arousing from hibernation to copulate with torpid females. The selection for large penises might take place, if a long organ provides advantages during post-copulatory competition and/or if females have evolved mechanisms allowing the choice of sire, relying on characters other than pre-copulatory traits (e.g., penis size). In this study, we measured dimensions of the erected penis in 4 sperm-storing bat species. Furthermore, we collected sperm and evaluated the link between penis dimensions and sperm velocity. Our results revealed steep allometric slopes of the erected penis length in Barbastella barbastellus and an inverse allometry of penis head width in Myotis nattereri. More detailed studies of copulatory behavior are urgently needed to explain the range of observed scaling relations. Furthermore, penis head width correlates with sperm velocity in Plecotus auritus. For this last species, we propose that penis shape might act as a marker of male fertility. Article in Journal/Newspaper Barbastella barbastellus Myotis nattereri Oxford University Press Current Zoology 65 6 697 703 |
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Oxford University Press |
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croxfordunivpr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Penises play a key role in sperm transport and in stimulating female genitals. This should impact post-copulatory competition, and expose penis characteristics to sexual selective pressures. Studies of male genitalia have repeatedly reported negative static allometries, which mean that, within species, large males have disproportionally small genitals when compared with smaller individuals. Males of some sperm-storing bat species may stand as an exception to such a pattern by arousing from hibernation to copulate with torpid females. The selection for large penises might take place, if a long organ provides advantages during post-copulatory competition and/or if females have evolved mechanisms allowing the choice of sire, relying on characters other than pre-copulatory traits (e.g., penis size). In this study, we measured dimensions of the erected penis in 4 sperm-storing bat species. Furthermore, we collected sperm and evaluated the link between penis dimensions and sperm velocity. Our results revealed steep allometric slopes of the erected penis length in Barbastella barbastellus and an inverse allometry of penis head width in Myotis nattereri. More detailed studies of copulatory behavior are urgently needed to explain the range of observed scaling relations. Furthermore, penis head width correlates with sperm velocity in Plecotus auritus. For this last species, we propose that penis shape might act as a marker of male fertility. |
author2 |
Jia, Zhi-Yun Swiss Science Foundation |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fasel, Nicolas Jean Kołodziej-Sobocińska, Marta Komar, Ewa Zegarek, Marcin Ruczyński, Ireneusz |
spellingShingle |
Fasel, Nicolas Jean Kołodziej-Sobocińska, Marta Komar, Ewa Zegarek, Marcin Ruczyński, Ireneusz Penis size and sperm quality, are all bats grey in the dark? |
author_facet |
Fasel, Nicolas Jean Kołodziej-Sobocińska, Marta Komar, Ewa Zegarek, Marcin Ruczyński, Ireneusz |
author_sort |
Fasel, Nicolas Jean |
title |
Penis size and sperm quality, are all bats grey in the dark? |
title_short |
Penis size and sperm quality, are all bats grey in the dark? |
title_full |
Penis size and sperm quality, are all bats grey in the dark? |
title_fullStr |
Penis size and sperm quality, are all bats grey in the dark? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Penis size and sperm quality, are all bats grey in the dark? |
title_sort |
penis size and sperm quality, are all bats grey in the dark? |
publisher |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoy094 http://academic.oup.com/cz/article-pdf/65/6/697/31533603/zoy094.pdf |
genre |
Barbastella barbastellus Myotis nattereri |
genre_facet |
Barbastella barbastellus Myotis nattereri |
op_source |
Current Zoology volume 65, issue 6, page 697-703 ISSN 2396-9814 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoy094 |
container_title |
Current Zoology |
container_volume |
65 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
697 |
op_container_end_page |
703 |
_version_ |
1810433772227657728 |