Serotine Bat
Eptesicus serotinus
1.6 cm
Length of the erect penis shaft (Fig. 1C, scale line [1]); from the figure it appears to run from the base to the tip of the terminal swelling
Erect, the serotine bat's penis is about seven times longer than the female's vagina, and it never goes in. The male presses its heart-shaped tip against her vulva instead.
Margin note: The authors call it a 'copulatory arm', which makes the whole business sound like a rather formal handshake.
Sources
- Fasel N.J., Jeucken J., Kravchenko K., Fritze M., Ruczyński I., Komar E., Moiseienko M., Shulenko A., Vlaschenko A., Christe P., Glaizot O., Holtze S. (2023) Mating without intromission in a bat. Current Biology 33(22):R1182–R1183 doi:10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.054
- Cell Press (2023) Serotine bats mate without penetration [news release on the Fasel et al. 2023 paper], EurekAlert!, 20 Nov 2023 link
- Wilson D.E., Mittermeier R.A. (eds) (2019) Handbook of the Mammals of the World, Vol. 9: Bats. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Vespertilionidae, Eptesicus serotinus account, pp. 850–851 doi:10.5281/zenodo.6568073
Drawn from
- Fasel et al. 2023, Fig. 1A,B: Erect penis, ventral (A) and dorsal (B) views, painted illustrations with 1 cm scale bars: slender shaft, heart-shaped two-lobed terminal swelling
- Fasel et al. 2023, Fig. 1 (full) and 1D: Full figure incl. scale lines [1] 16.4 mm and [2] 7.5 mm overlaid on the female tract (C) and the copulation posture (D)