University of Massachusetts-Amherst professor Patricia Brennan defends her government-funded duck genitalia research in face of Fox news online poll, Internet debate
I love how she concludes that male ducks rape female ducks. While it may indeed be interesting I still am not sure how we will benefit from this research. However, I will watch to see if this research does lead to mankind's, or even duckkind's, benefit.
This brings us back to the ducks. Male ducks force copulations on females, and males and females are engaged in a genital arms race with surprising consequences.
Male ducks have elaborate corkscrew-shaped penises, the length of which correlates with the degree of forced copulation males impose on female ducks. Females are often unable to escape male coercion, but they have evolved vaginal morphology that makes it difficult for males to inseminate females close to the sites of fertilization and sperm storage.
Males have counterclockwise spiraling penises, while females have clockwise spiraling vaginas and blind pockets that prevent full eversion of the male penis.