- Hemipenis
A hemipenis (plural hemipenes) is one of a pair of
intromittent organ s of male squamates (snake s,lizard s and worm lizards). [cite web |url=http://www.anapsid.org/hemipenes.html |title=Hemipenes |format= |work= |accessdate=] [cite journal |author=Holmes MM, Putz O, Crews D, Wade J |title=Normally occurring intersexuality and testosterone induced plasticity in the copulatory system of adult leopard geckos |journal=Horm Behav |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=439–45 |year=2005 |month=Apr |pmid=15777809 |doi=10.1016/j.yhbeh.2004.11.020 |url=]Hemipenes are usually held inverted, within the body, and are everted for reproduction via
erectile tissue like that in the humanpenis . [cite web |url=http://www.greenigsociety.org/anatomy.htm |title=Iguana Anatomy |format= |work= |accessdate=] Only one is used at a time, and some evidence indicates males alternate use betweencopulation s. The hemipenis itself has a variety of shapes, depending on species. Often the hemipenis bears spines or hooks, in order to anchor the male within the female. Some species even have forked hemipenes (each hemipenis has two tips). Due to being everted and inverted, hemipenes do not have a completely enclosed channel for the conduction ofsperm , but rather a seminal groove which seals as the erectile tissue expands.ee also
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Snake#Reproduction
*Bulbus glandis Notes
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