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This Bat's Member Is So Exceptionally Large It's Used as an Extra Arm (www.sciencealert.com)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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An inspiration for a new Batman's gadget?

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (2 children)

use their unusually long cervixes to hold onto the sperm of several different males for months before choosing which male they bear offspring with.

Doubt.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Well I wasn’t expecting to look this up today. But it looks like there’s actually plenty of evidence for bats holding onto sperm for months. I’m not sure about them selectively choosing which sperm to use.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10511888/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/veterinary-science-and-veterinary-medicine/female-sperm-storage

And it’s not just bats. Apparently some turtles can hold onto sperm for years.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Hmm, how would they even "choose"? Is it like, in different compartments?.. And wouldn't the material go bad after all that time?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

One of the articles explains that the females have some mechanism for keeping the sperm alive, I imagine the sperm is able to replicate itself as long as the environment is friendly. I’m not sure how they would choose between sperm, that may just be a hypothesis. I unfortunately don’t have the time to read further right now

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Another fun fact about bats that will stick with you