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First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes

Female genitalia are conspicuously overlooked in comparison to their male counterparts, limiting our understanding of sexual reproduction across vertebrate lineages. This study is the first complete description of the clitoris (hemiclitores) in female snakes. We describe morphological variation in s...

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Autores principales: Folwell, Megan J., Sanders, Kate L., Brennan, Patricia L. R., Crowe-Riddell, Jenna M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9748774/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36515117
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1702
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author Folwell, Megan J.
Sanders, Kate L.
Brennan, Patricia L. R.
Crowe-Riddell, Jenna M.
author_facet Folwell, Megan J.
Sanders, Kate L.
Brennan, Patricia L. R.
Crowe-Riddell, Jenna M.
author_sort Folwell, Megan J.
collection PubMed
description Female genitalia are conspicuously overlooked in comparison to their male counterparts, limiting our understanding of sexual reproduction across vertebrate lineages. This study is the first complete description of the clitoris (hemiclitores) in female snakes. We describe morphological variation in size and shape (n = 9 species, 4 families) that is potentially comparable to the male intromittent organs in squamate reptiles (hemipenes). Dissection, diffusible iodine contrast-enhanced micro-CT and histology revealed that, unlike lizard hemiclitores, the snake hemiclitores are non-eversible structures. The two individual hemiclitores are separated medially by connective tissue, forming a triangular structure that extends posteriorly. Histology of the hemiclitores in Australian death adders (Acanthophis antarcticus) showed erectile tissue and strands/bundles of nerves, but no spines (as is found in male hemipenes). These histological features suggest the snake hemiclitores have functional significance in mating and definitively show that the hemiclitores are not underdeveloped hemipenes or scent glands, which have been erroneously indicated in other studies. Our discovery supports that hemiclitores have been retained across squamates and provides preliminary evidence of differences in this structure among snake species, which can be used to further understand systematics, reproductive evolution and ecology across squamate reptiles.
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spelling pubmed-97487742023-02-15 First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes Folwell, Megan J. Sanders, Kate L. Brennan, Patricia L. R. Crowe-Riddell, Jenna M. Proc Biol Sci Morphology and Biomechanics Female genitalia are conspicuously overlooked in comparison to their male counterparts, limiting our understanding of sexual reproduction across vertebrate lineages. This study is the first complete description of the clitoris (hemiclitores) in female snakes. We describe morphological variation in size and shape (n = 9 species, 4 families) that is potentially comparable to the male intromittent organs in squamate reptiles (hemipenes). Dissection, diffusible iodine contrast-enhanced micro-CT and histology revealed that, unlike lizard hemiclitores, the snake hemiclitores are non-eversible structures. The two individual hemiclitores are separated medially by connective tissue, forming a triangular structure that extends posteriorly. Histology of the hemiclitores in Australian death adders (Acanthophis antarcticus) showed erectile tissue and strands/bundles of nerves, but no spines (as is found in male hemipenes). These histological features suggest the snake hemiclitores have functional significance in mating and definitively show that the hemiclitores are not underdeveloped hemipenes or scent glands, which have been erroneously indicated in other studies. Our discovery supports that hemiclitores have been retained across squamates and provides preliminary evidence of differences in this structure among snake species, which can be used to further understand systematics, reproductive evolution and ecology across squamate reptiles. The Royal Society 2022-12-21 2022-12-14 /pmc/articles/PMC9748774/ /pubmed/36515117 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1702 Text en © 2022 The Authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Morphology and Biomechanics
Folwell, Megan J.
Sanders, Kate L.
Brennan, Patricia L. R.
Crowe-Riddell, Jenna M.
First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes
title First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes
title_full First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes
title_fullStr First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes
title_full_unstemmed First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes
title_short First evidence of hemiclitores in snakes
title_sort first evidence of hemiclitores in snakes
topic Morphology and Biomechanics
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9748774/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36515117
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1702
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