Barnacles go to great lengths to mate
Stay-at-home sex
Compelled to mate, yet firmly attached to the rock, barnacles have evolved the longest penis of any animal for their size - up to eight times their body length - so they can find and fertilize distant neighbours.
Unlike animals that travel long distances to breeding grounds under a wide range of conditions, barnacles reproduce by extending impressively long penises to find and fertilize distant mates. (Barnacles are hermaphrodites, so they can mate with male or female neighbours)…
The research suggests that sexual selection - competition with other males, female choice, sexual conflict between males and females - is not required to explain variation in genital form. In barnacles, this variation appears to be driven largely by the hydrodynamic conditions experienced under breaking waves.
“Put another way,” said Christopher Neufeld, “barnacles select mates simply by being able to reach them, not by what they may look like when they get there.”
Har.
Posted: Fri - February 8, 2008 at 06:00 AM