World's Oldest Genitals Found in Scotland

Reuters ^ | September 17, 2003 | Reuters

[AntiGuv]

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered fossils of the world's oldest genitals -- belonging to 400 million-year-old insects -- in ancient rocks in Scotland.

The penis of the ancient harvestmen insects, commonly known as a daddy-long-legs, was two-thirds the length of the body and remarkably similar to the modern-day species, New Scientist magazine said Wednesday.

"The discovery of the world's oldest genitals proves that little has changed over the last 400 million years -- at least for daddy-long-legs," the magazine said.

Jason Dunlop and a team of researchers from Humbolt University in Berlin, Germany, who will present their findings at a conference in Aberdeen, also uncovered a long egg-laying organ called an ovipositor from a female.

"As well as genitals, the fossils have the oldest known arachnid respiratory system, suggesting harvestmen's ancestors had long since crawled out of the sea and learned to breathe," the magazine said.

Harvestmen arachnids are sometimes mistaken for spiders but they are more closely related to ticks or mites because they do not spin webs.

The previous oldest penis, which dated back 100 million years and was found in Brazil, belonged an ostracod, an early crustacean related to crabs, shrimps and water fleas.

[TheBigB]

...attached to Sean Connery.

[new cruelty]

Broken news indeed.

[dirtboy]

"The discovery of the world's oldest genitals proves that little has changed over the last 400 million years -- at least for daddy-long-legs," the magazine said.

Yep, even back then, mommy-long-legs had daddy by the fossils...

[theDentist]

"Please return them to Helen Thomas immediately".

[Free_at_last_-2001]

What's hilary doing in Scotland!

[Robe]

ROFLMAO

[geedee]

Hey, maybe someone can loan them to the Republican leaders in the Senate.

[Petronski]

.......attached to Sean Connery.

LOL. If you call that attached...

[Treebeard]

Damn dyslexia. I thought it said "World's Oldest Gentiles"

[1Old Pro]

They can't be from any of Arlen Specter's relatives as he never inheritated any.

[Physicist]

C*ck of Ages

[Samwise]

Sometimes it's just too easy....

[Pokey78]

Anita Hill's cavewoman ancestor: "He then asked me if that was a pubic hair on his Pterodactyl juice. I was mortified!".

[Treebeard]

Arlen's Pecker...

[Physicist]

Is "boner" an appropriate term for a creature with an exoskeleton?

[Mr. Mojo]

...attached to Sean Connery.

If Sean weren't such gun-grabbing fool (scroll down a bit to the section on celebrities and national figures who have lent their name and notoriety to anti-gun causes, speaking out for anti-gun legislation, and providing a voice for anti-gun organizations), I might be willing to concede your point.

[VRWCmember]

The penis of the ancient harvestmen insects, commonly known as a daddy-long-legs, was two-thirds the length of the body...

I guess that made mommy-long-legs happy!

[Treebeard]

"The previous oldest penis, which dated back 100 million years and was found in Brazil, belonged "

to Strom Thurmond...

[Treebeard]

Comparatively, if humans were blessed like that, the uh...copulatory organ of a six foot male would be four feet long. You'd have to evolve riflings in the bore to get anything out of it.