Comments on: Kangaroos have three vaginas

By: Holly

Holly — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 04:35:30 +0000

This isn’t true… the photograph is labeled wrong! Check out.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Ag65dEJpY and @ 4:46 it describes the organs.

By: mfumbesi

mfumbesi — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 05:55:36 +0000

I learned something new Today. As I always do when I visit your blog. I also love that series, unfortunately for us (in the lowly 3rd world), there are no legal means to view it yet. Don’t ask me how I watch it.

By: metamanda

metamanda — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:52:54 +0000

This makes me feel like being a placental mammal is kind of a crappy deal.

By: Bill Noble

Bill Noble — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:34:30 +0000

More and more, males are getting the short end of the stick (so to speak) in these days of growing female ascendancy, and everybody here probably already knows this (he sighs soulfully), but male possums have forked penises.

Yup. Possum ladyparts have two vaginas with one external opening, so lucky male possums get to have a more-or-less triad *every single time.*

Almost as kinky, all the New World marsupials – like possums – have paired sperm that swim the female reproductive tract joined at the hip until the instant before fertilization. Seems kinda gay, but so far at least, nobody’s campaigning against it.

By: Scicurious

Scicurious — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:12:16 +0000

That was the thing I had to run around telling EVERYONE about today. I can’t wait until I can finally see the episode of the show!!!

By: David

David — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:24:01 +0000

Well, okay, I guess that’s pretty interesting.

But you big science writers have consistently ignored the story of the monkey with four asses. Until you address the science behind that, I’m pretty much nonplussed. However, I’ll give you some points for the two-pronged penis.

In all seriousness, though, this is truly fascinating. I’d really love to know more about the homeobox developmental program at work here. I recall PZ Myers speaking of HOXA13 as being essential to mammalian vagina development. I wonder if that’s the transcription factor which is lacking or fails to operate in the case of marsupials.

By: Rel

Rel — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:03:34 +0000

They can also pause their pregnancies if environmental conditions are less than optimal eg. droughts.

By: Mindy

Mindy — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:46:09 +0000

I imagine this as the title of a children’s counting book, which would be THE AWESOMEST COUNTING BOOK EVER.

By: Old Geezer

Old Geezer — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:54:57 +0000

Perpetually pregnant? Now if she could be made barefoot in the kitchen she could have been Rick Santorum’s running mate.

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:44:15 +0000

Ooh yeah, lemme know what you find. There’s also some cool stuff about the mums being able to produce different types of milk to control the development of the different youngsters, but I didn’t have time to go through the literature on that today.