Science & technology | Snake sex

A study of ophidian clitorises suggests snakes are highly sexed

They have a great diversity of forms, and are well equipped with nerves and erectile tissue

GERCMJ Puff Adder, Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana, Snake, (Bitis arietans)
Image: Alamy

Female genitalia of all species, Homo sapiens included, have long been overlooked by biologists. This may reflect a past tendency for biologists to be male. No longer. Biology has become an equal-opportunity discipline and that history of oversight is being corrected. A study released in October, for example, showed that the human clitoris is more richly innervated than thought. Now it is the turn of female snakes to have their genitalia scrutinised.

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