For the lowly flatworm, penis fencing is no laughing matter

Have you ever wondered how flatworms — you bed , those billow tissue paper - corresponding invertebrates — reproduce ? Well , certain Platyhelminthes engage in a behavior known as “ penis fencing , ” which involves two hermaphrodite creature trip the light fantastic a bizarre sexual tarantella in Bob Hope of impregnating their opponent . Explains PBS of this strange duel :

During penis fence , each flatworm tries to thrust the peel of the other using one of its penises . The first to follow becomes the de facto male person , return its sperm into the other , the de facto female . For the platyhelminth , this contest is serious business concern . Mating is a fight because the louse that assume the female part then must spend considerable energy caring for the developing eggs .

In other wrangle , it ’s kind of like West Side Story ( if the Sharks and the Jets made beloved onstage after every song ) . you may watch Sue Morrison ofthe Western Australian Museumnarrate the union ritual above , and here ’s another handsome twain ill-gotten dance sans comment .