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The spotted hyena has had a bad reputation in the past. They are associated with death, scavenging, uncleanliness, cowardice, gluttony, sexual deviance. Early naturalist thought the hyena was a hermaphrodite, or that it practiced homosexuality. This was an understandable misconception. Female spotted hyena are actually slightly bigger than the male, and they have an enlarged clitoris that forms a pseudo-penis. The females give birth, copulate and urinate through their protruding clitoris. Interestingly, this anatomical feature is not dependent on high male hormones as was once thought, since, if testosterone is removed from the womb, they develop normally. The evolutionary advantage of this apparatus is unclear, as it makes copulation and birth more difficult. However, it does enable the female to have complete control over her mating partner, allowing the matriarchal society to persist.
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But Papua New-Guinea natives have nothing on the Australian natives when it comes to penis salutations. The men of the Walibri tribe of central Australia, shake each others penises when they greet, much like we shake hands in the west. You can find numerous accounts of this custom of the Walibri tribe on the web, along with other strange sexual facts also in this book...
3 comments:
"Unload everything at once..." thats great lol.
Hey, don't be ashamed of genitalia journalism! When it all boils down to it, its all about reproduction anyways.
Hyenas are very interesting creatures. It's a female dominated society. The female hyena is dominant males only appear to mate with the females. Something that can be dangerous considering the female is much larger and much stronger.
Hah aaaawesome. I can't wait to be a grad student doing the same shit
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