Snake with two heads (JD KLEOPFER/WILDLIFE CENTER OF VIRGINIA)
It's been a big year for the clit.
In January, scientists discovered that the female dolphin has a large S-shaped clitoris that is better positioned for pleasure than the human version.
Just last month, other researchers realized that they had once again underestimated the female genital organ, when their research showed that there are more than ten thousand nerve endings in the female erogenous organ.
Now, for the first time, scientists have uncovered the corresponding genital organ in female snakes - and in the process, they have shattered a series of misconceptions.
So do female snakes enjoy sex more than any other living creature?
Scientists from the University of Adelaide, Australia, found that the female snake has two clitoris and not one.
Yes, you read that right.
According to their findings, there are at least nine varieties of female snakes with two parts of the clitoris called "hemiclitoris".
In an article published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, it is claimed that the largest clitoris, as it turns out, belongs to a Mexican viper of the "Mexican Moccasin" species, while the smallest belongs to a brown snake that can be found mainly in Australia.
Carpet pythons mate (Photo: Giphy)
Megan Fulwell, a reproductive biologist who led the study, explained: "There is a lot of information about the male genitalia of the snake, but not much about the female ones."
It has been known for years that snakes have a double male genital organ, called the hemipenes (plural hemipenes, singular hemipenis - the direct translation is "half penis").
Now they have discovered that female snakes also have two hemiclitores that form a triangular structure that varies in size and shape.
For those wondering, both clitoris are on the underside of the female snake's tail.
The mystery surrounding the double clitoris intensified when the scientists found a sort of disconnected pockets on the outside of the snake.
"These pockets make up two empty tissues of vaginas. They are in the back part along the "miclitores" and are separated from it."
And yes, this double clitoris causes the female snake to mate more: "There is a connection between the double clitoris and courtship and mating behavior in the female snake and this helps us understand her choice better. It causes the female snake to mate more frequently and for longer, and also for better fertilization."
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The females lure the males into sex
Under the microscope, Fulwell and her colleagues discovered that the clitoris is composed of erect tissue packed with blood cells and bundles of nerves, but without the organ backbone that males have.
"These histological features indicate that the hemiclitons of the snake have a functional significance in mating," Fulwell wrote in the published paper.
The presence of corpuscles with blood cells suggests that the clitoris fills with blood, while the presence of abundant nerve bundles suggests that their stimulation may provide sensory feedback to females.
This is an important finding because it suggests that the snakes may use sensory stimulation to lure a mate, rather than the males forcing sex on the females as scientists had previously thought.
But Fulwell notes that miclitors could also play a role in stimulating ovulation or sending signals to store sperm in the fallopian tube, as reptiles do—sometimes for years at a time.
There is much we still do not know, because the double clitoris of snakes is a new discovery and another example of the scientific neglect of the female clitoris.
"This neglect has hindered our understanding of the reproductive biology and behavior of females in the wild," Fulwell and her colleagues concluded.
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