Comparative Morphology of the Penis and Clitoris in Four Species of Moles
RESEARCH ARTICLE Comparative Morphology of the Penis and Clitoris in Four Species of Moles (Talpidae) ADRIANE WATKINS SINCLAIR1∗, STEPHEN GLICKMAN2, KENNETH CATANIA3, AKIO SHINOHARA4, LAWRENCE BASKIN1, 1 AND GERALD R. CUNHA 1Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 2Departments of Psychology and Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 3Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 4Frontier Science Research Center, University of Miyazaki, Kihara, Japan ABSTRACT The penile and clitoral anatomy of four species of Talpid moles (broad-footed, star-nosed, hairy- tailed, and Japanese shrew moles) were investigated to define penile and clitoral anatomy and to examine the relationship of the clitoral anatomy with the presence or absence of ovotestes. The ovotestis contains ovarian tissue and glandular tissue resembling fetal testicular tissue and can produce androgens. The ovotestis is present in star-nosed and hairy-tailed moles, but not in broad-footed and Japanese shrew moles. Using histology, three-dimensional reconstruction, and morphometric analysis, sexual dimorphism was examined with regard to a nine feature mascu- line trait score that included perineal appendage length (prepuce), anogenital distance, and pres- ence/absence of bone. The presence/absence of ovotestes was discordant in all four mole species for sex differentiation features. For many sex differentiation features, discordance with ovotestes was observed in at least one mole species. The degree of concordance with ovotestes was highest for hairy-tailed moles and lowest for broad-footed moles. In relationship to phylogenetic clade, sex differentiation features also did not correlate with the similarity/divergence of the features and presence/absence of ovotestes.
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