Because of monogamy, we lost the penis bone. The structure evolved between 145 and 95 million years ago
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousThe man's penis was endowed with bone as that of other animal species still is. Yet, as we know, it no longer exists. "Fault" of monogamy according to the most recent research. Which, however, did not make his memory disappear, according to some dialectal expressions.
A 2016 study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B showed that the ancestral mammal, like humans, did not have a baculum, or penis bone, but both ancestral primates and carnivores did and showed that the structure it had first evolved in mammals between 145 and 95 million years ago.
The penis bone guarantees longer penetration, because it is independent of the erection guided by the blood flow in the male member. In historical periods when many men copulated with many women, sexual competition in a sense "imposed" safer reproduction and gene transmission strategies.
And in fact in the animal species in which this is still the case, the bone is present.
©University College of London
Our results suggest that the baculum plays an important role in supporting reproductive strategies in species in which males face high levels of post-cultural sexual competition - reported Matilda Brindle, first author of the work - Prolonged penetration helps the male to ensure that the female does not mate with other competitors, increasing the chances of passing on their material genetic
Indeed chimpanzees and bonobos, the closest relatives of humans, have very small penile bones (between about 6-8 mm) and short penetration durations (about 7 seconds for chimpanzees and 15 for bonobos) and are characterized by polygamous coupling systems, therefore, they experience high levels of post-cultural competition among males. And it is therefore perhaps the reason why these species have retained a baculum, albeit a small one.
Human beings, on the other hand, have increasingly evolved towards monogamy, which makes the baculum superfluous in the absence of high post-copulatory competition.
But we haven't forgotten that we had it, in a way.
For example in Catania it is said 'spuppiti st'ossu' (stripped this bone) which originally referred to the bone of the penis.
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Sources: University College of London / Proceedings of the Royal Society B
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