Scientists from Dalhousie University in Canada have developed a new method for the study of sexual activity of dolphins and other cetaceans. To do this, they inflate cut off the genitals of dead animals and mimic their sexual intercourse. About it reports the edition Motherboard.
Researchers use genitalia common seals and three species of cetaceans: bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins and porpoises (belong to the toothed whales). After that, they pumped penises saline solution, simulating an erection admit them to the genital tract of females and fixed with formaldehyde solution. The bodies then were scanned with computed tomography (CT).
Tissue was extracted from animals that died of natural causes. Body parts of mammals were frozen not later than 24 hours after death and sent to the lab. This will keep the genitals in good condition.
It turned out that common dolphins and seals penises go into the vagina, but the bottlenose dolphins and porpoises are vaginal folds, which prevent the penetration of the penis too deep. The complex structure of the genitalia is necessary to ensure sexual selection when fertilization can occur only in the males of some form of penis.
According to scientists, the study of the sexual process whales needed to be manufactured to maintain the numbers of cetaceans.