Scientists discover clitorises on snakes for first time ever

Scientists have dispelled the myth that female snakes don't have clitorises after finding evidence of them for the first time.

Today (Wednesday, 14 December), the first scientific description of female snake genitalia was published in a research article by an international team led by the University of Adelaide.

Researchers admitted the snake clitoris has been 'overlooked in comparison' to the snake penis - shocker.

So let's all raise a glass to female snakes - and to the scientists, because clitorises can be notoriously hard for some people to find.

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Lead researcher and PhD Candidate Megan Folwell from the School of Biological Sciences revealed the study is not only the first to provide a proper anatomical description of the female snake clitoris, but it also 'counters the long-standing assumption that the clitoris (hemiclitores) is either absent or non-functional in snakes'.

She continued: "There was a combination of female genitalia being taboo, scientists not being able to find it, and people accepting the mislabelling of intersex snakes."

The idea of a snake having a clitoris has been previously overlooked, however, Folwell decided to investigate it because it 'just didn't quite sit right' with her that a female snakes sexual organs had either been lost through evolution or were non-existent completely.

"I just had to have a look, to see if this structure was there or if it's just been missed," she explained to the BBC.

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Upon inspecting a death adder's scent glands, she found a heart-shaped structure which was later identified as the clitoris.

"There was this double structure that was quite prominent in the female, that was quite different to that of the surrounding tissue - and there was no implication of the [penis] structures I've seen before," Folwell said.

The clitoris was found in other types of snake as well. But does it function in the same way to the human clitoris?

Found in the tail of the female snake, Kate Sanders, an Associate Professor at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide explained: "We found the heart-shaped snake hemiclitores is composed of nerves and red blood cells consistent with erectile tissue - which suggests it may swell and become stimulated during mating.

"This is important because snake mating is often thought to involve coercion of the female – not seduction.

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"Through our research we have developed proper anatomical descriptions and labels of the female snake genitalia. We can apply our findings to further understand systematics, reproductive evolution and ecology across snake-like reptiles, such as lizards."

Prof. Sanders has praised the discovery and debunking of the notion female snakes do not have genitalia as exemplifying 'how science needs diverse thinkers with diverse ideas to move forward'.

Folwell resolved: "We are proud to contribute this research, particularly as female genitalia across every species is unfortunately still taboo."

The study has been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B Journal.

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