del is getting his penis examined

[RadiomanATL]

Finally! The Ostrich Penis Provides the Answer to a Long-Standing Question | Discoblog | Discover Magazine

Penises, as a general rule, are some of the more improbable structures in biology (especially bird penises). There are many ways in which they are marvels of engineering—and prime examples of the truly weird avenues evolution will explore, as long as more babies result. One major miracle is that they manage to stand up, something achieved, in most penises you’re likely to be familiar with, with a huge rush of blood. But bird penises (of course! showoffs) have taken another route. They stand up with lymph instead.

Lymph, if you don’t recall, is blood’s often-overlooked sibling. Charged with aiding in cleaning out the body’s waste and shuttling around various immune components, it circulates in a system of vessels similar to blood vessels (albeit more slowly, since the system’s not hooked up to a central pump) and contains a rich mixture of immune cells, metabolites, and other goodies. Scientists have known for a long time that most bird penises use lymph to get their pick-me-up, but one group of birds had never had their gear fully examined: the ratites, which include ostriches and emus. This gaping hole in our knowledge had languished for a distressingly long time.

Now, however, through four dissections and “direct manipulation of fresh penises,” ornithologists Patricia Brennan and Richard Prum have confirmed what several biologists starting in the 1830s speculated on, but never fully explored: ostriches and emus do it like other birds.

 

[del]

Finally! The Ostrich Penis Provides the Answer to a Long-Standing Question | Discoblog | Discover Magazine

Penises, as a general rule, are some of the more improbable structures in biology (especially bird penises). There are many ways in which they are marvels of engineering—and prime examples of the truly weird avenues evolution will explore, as long as more babies result. One major miracle is that they manage to stand up, something achieved, in most penises you’re likely to be familiar with, with a huge rush of blood. But bird penises (of course! showoffs) have taken another route. They stand up with lymph instead.

Lymph, if you don’t recall, is blood’s often-overlooked sibling. Charged with aiding in cleaning out the body’s waste and shuttling around various immune components, it circulates in a system of vessels similar to blood vessels (albeit more slowly, since the system’s not hooked up to a central pump) and contains a rich mixture of immune cells, metabolites, and other goodies. Scientists have known for a long time that most bird penises use lymph to get their pick-me-up, but one group of birds had never had their gear fully examined: the ratites, which include ostriches and emus. This gaping hole in our knowledge had languished for a distressingly long time.

Now, however, through four dissections and “direct manipulation of fresh penises,” ornithologists Patricia Brennan and Richard Prum have confirmed what several biologists starting in the 1830s speculated on, but never fully explored: ostriches and emus do it like other birds.

 

[MeBelle]

Finally! The Ostrich Penis Provides the Answer to a Long-Standing Question | Discoblog | Discover Magazine

I thought del was an EMU!

 

[del]

i am

we always get short shrift, so to speak...

 

[Ringel05]

Finally! The Ostrich Penis Provides the Answer to a Long-Standing Question | Discoblog | Discover Magazine

I thought del was an EMU!

He's bi.........

 

[MeBelle]

i am

we always get short shrift, so to speak...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS_ZcDaaduE]Joe Nichols - Size Matters (Someday) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[MeBelle]

Finally! The Ostrich Penis Provides the Answer to a Long-Standing Question | Discoblog | Discover Magazine

I thought del was an EMU!

He's bi.........

bi-mu-ost???


WOW!

 

[RadiomanATL]

Finally! The Ostrich Penis Provides the Answer to a Long-Standing Question | Discoblog | Discover Magazine

I thought del was an EMU!

The article is about both.