First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes
Female genitalia are conspicuously overlooked in comparison to their male counterparts, limiting our understanding of sexual reproduction across vertebrate lineages. This study is the first complete description of the clitoris (hemiclitores) in female snakes. We describe morphological variation in s...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:9748774 2023-05-15T13:46:06+02:00 First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes Folwell, Megan J. Sanders, Kate L. Brennan, Patricia L. R. Crowe-Riddell, Jenna M. 2022-12-21 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9748774/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36515117 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1702 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9748774/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36515117 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1702 © 2022 The Authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. CC-BY Proc Biol Sci Morphology and Biomechanics Text 2022 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1702 2023-02-19T01:33:51Z Female genitalia are conspicuously overlooked in comparison to their male counterparts, limiting our understanding of sexual reproduction across vertebrate lineages. This study is the first complete description of the clitoris (hemiclitores) in female snakes. We describe morphological variation in size and shape (n = 9 species, 4 families) that is potentially comparable to the male intromittent organs in squamate reptiles (hemipenes). Dissection, diffusible iodine contrast-enhanced micro-CT and histology revealed that, unlike lizard hemiclitores, the snake hemiclitores are non-eversible structures. The two individual hemiclitores are separated medially by connective tissue, forming a triangular structure that extends posteriorly. Histology of the hemiclitores in Australian death adders (Acanthophis antarcticus) showed erectile tissue and strands/bundles of nerves, but no spines (as is found in male hemipenes). These histological features suggest the snake hemiclitores have functional significance in mating and definitively show that the hemiclitores are not underdeveloped hemipenes or scent glands, which have been erroneously indicated in other studies. Our discovery supports that hemiclitores have been retained across squamates and provides preliminary evidence of differences in this structure among snake species, which can be used to further understand systematics, reproductive evolution and ecology across squamate reptiles. Text Antarc* antarcticus PubMed Central (PMC) Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 289 1989 |
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PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Morphology and Biomechanics |
spellingShingle |
Morphology and Biomechanics Folwell, Megan J. Sanders, Kate L. Brennan, Patricia L. R. Crowe-Riddell, Jenna M. First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes |
topic_facet |
Morphology and Biomechanics |
description |
Female genitalia are conspicuously overlooked in comparison to their male counterparts, limiting our understanding of sexual reproduction across vertebrate lineages. This study is the first complete description of the clitoris (hemiclitores) in female snakes. We describe morphological variation in size and shape (n = 9 species, 4 families) that is potentially comparable to the male intromittent organs in squamate reptiles (hemipenes). Dissection, diffusible iodine contrast-enhanced micro-CT and histology revealed that, unlike lizard hemiclitores, the snake hemiclitores are non-eversible structures. The two individual hemiclitores are separated medially by connective tissue, forming a triangular structure that extends posteriorly. Histology of the hemiclitores in Australian death adders (Acanthophis antarcticus) showed erectile tissue and strands/bundles of nerves, but no spines (as is found in male hemipenes). These histological features suggest the snake hemiclitores have functional significance in mating and definitively show that the hemiclitores are not underdeveloped hemipenes or scent glands, which have been erroneously indicated in other studies. Our discovery supports that hemiclitores have been retained across squamates and provides preliminary evidence of differences in this structure among snake species, which can be used to further understand systematics, reproductive evolution and ecology across squamate reptiles. |
format |
Text |
author |
Folwell, Megan J. Sanders, Kate L. Brennan, Patricia L. R. Crowe-Riddell, Jenna M. |
author_facet |
Folwell, Megan J. Sanders, Kate L. Brennan, Patricia L. R. Crowe-Riddell, Jenna M. |
author_sort |
Folwell, Megan J. |
title |
First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes |
title_short |
First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes |
title_full |
First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes |
title_fullStr |
First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes |
title_full_unstemmed |
First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes |
title_sort |
first evidence of hemiclitores in snakes |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9748774/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36515117 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1702 |
genre |
Antarc* antarcticus |
genre_facet |
Antarc* antarcticus |
op_source |
Proc Biol Sci |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9748774/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36515117 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1702 |
op_rights |
© 2022 The Authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1702 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
289 |
container_issue |
1989 |
_version_ |
1766236997261721600 |