Researchers from the Institute are co-authors of a just-published paper revealing a new copulatory behaviour in mammals. The study showed that in serotine bats (Eptesicus serotinus) the penis is used as a ‘copulatory arm’ rather than an intromittent organ. The publication is already making its rounds in some major news and popular science sites, such as:

Science https://www.science.org/content/article/how-big-too-big-bat-s-enormous-penis-makes-penetration-impossible,

Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03565-7,

The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/20/science/bats-sex-cloacal-kiss.html?unlocked_article_code=1._0w.S22Z.I39IJYIBrM5D&smid=url-share,

Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/bat-uses-penis-extra-arm-during-sex-disproportionately-long-1845249,

Popular Science https://www.popsci.com/environment/serotine-bats-mating/,

The New Scientist https://www.newscientist.com/article/2403830-bat-uses-its-huge-penis-like-an-arm-during-sex/,

CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/21/europe/serotine-bats-mammals-sex-mating-scn/index.html,

EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1008279,

Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com/bats-have-weird-sex-mating-1851036719.

Full version of the paper: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)01304-0

Photograph by Alona Shulenko