# multiple erm...appendages **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2001, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102 "2001-01-15T06:34:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fondarobingraves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@fondarobingraves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fondarobingraves)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/1 "2001-01-15T06:34:19Z")
i was just told that iguanas, koalas, and komodo dragons each have 2 penises. “feh!” i thought. certainly with the VAST (aheh) knowledge of genitalia ive obtained over the years, i would have come across THIS! but then cecil DID confirm the fact that pigs do, in fact, have corkscrew shaped penises…hell, who am i to deny nature’s apparant giddy randomness. does anyone know if this is fact or fiction? -FRG ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/2 "2001-01-15T06:37:45Z")
Don’t know about the animals that you mentioned, but there is a birth defect wherein a male can be born with two penii. Apparently it’s a horribly painful thing to have. You’d think it would help you be a pornstar, but no… Actually, it would seem kind of silly to have two penises in any animal unless the female had two vaginas. ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Fortune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/3 "2001-01-15T07:32:28Z")
Many reptlies do have hemi-penes. So, yeah, some do have 2 - sort of. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/4 "2001-01-15T08:42:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andygirl \* > \*\* > Actually, it would seem kind of silly to have two penises in any animal unless the female had two vaginas. \*\* Uh,😃 I can think of a few scenarios where you’d be wrong, but being a gentleman I would list them. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/5 "2001-01-15T09:05:04Z")
I had a monitor lizard, and whenever he took a dump his dicks would come out. Freaky. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/6 "2001-01-15T12:05:24Z")
I consider myself to be a kind of lizard… and I have only the one, luckily! More than one, and I couldn’t lead a normal life! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Reuben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@Reuben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reuben)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/7 "2001-01-15T14:31:09Z")
Don’t female anteaters have two vaginas? Sure I read that somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/8 "2001-01-15T14:44:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reuben \* > \*\*Don’t female anteaters have two vaginas? Sure I read that somewhere… > \*\* Dunno. Cats have a forked uterus, so it’s in the shape of a “Y”. Maybe that’s what anteaters have. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/9 "2001-01-15T16:14:03Z")
Yup, the OP is absolutely right. Male lizards and snakes do have essentially two penises (or penes), referred to as hemipenes. They only use one at a time, though. There have been studies of what determines penis preference in these animals - that is, whether individuals prefer to use one rather than the other, or whether they alternate, say. (I _think_ turtles and crocodilians have only one, but I would have to check.) Marsupials (kangaroos, koalas, etc.) also have a two-prong dong, as one of my instructors in vertebrate anatomy put it. ---
**Author:** ![fondarobingraves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@fondarobingraves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fondarobingraves)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/10 "2001-01-15T17:05:46Z")
alright, ya eggheads, so we’ve established that some animals DO in fact have a ‘double threat’, as it were…now tell me what the reason is. the scientific one, kids… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/11 "2001-01-15T18:21:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fondarobingraves \* > \*\*alright, ya eggheads, so we’ve established that some animals DO in fact have a ‘double threat’, as it were…now tell me what the reason is. the scientific one, kids… \*\* I just checked, and in marsupials, at least, the female also has a double vagina. Unlike in reptiles, I believe the male marsupial uses both parts of his organ at the same time, which makes sense in order to fertilize eggs in both halves of the female reproductive tract. And for male reptiles, I expect having a spare would sometimes come in handy in case one was lost or became defective. It’s a pretty vital piece of equipment if you want to pass on your genes. As for why female marsupials have a paired tract, or a more basic reason why male reptiles and marsupials might have double penises, I don’t think this necessarily needs an adaptive explanation. After all, animals also usually have paired kidneys, testes and ovaries, as well as paired nostrils and lungs. There’s no functional reason why this arrangement would work any better than one (and most birds have only one functional ovary). According to the basic vertebrate body plan, many things are paired, and this may just be the easiest way to do things developmentally. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/12 "2001-01-15T18:25:56Z")
Im not sure what the OP is but yes pigs do have those wine opener penises. Some men have two penises too. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/13 "2001-01-15T18:30:25Z")
I read (no, I can’t remember where) that a certain people in Australia (possibly on the northern or north-east coast) practise an initiation rite where a sharp stone is used to split the glans penis down the middle in imitation of the penis of a kangaroo. ---
**Author:** ![S-Terry\_Dan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@S-Terry\_Dan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/S-Terry_Dan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/14 "2001-01-16T00:56:17Z")
hibernicus: I read the same story in “Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (but were afraid to ask)”. But what I think you’re thinking of is called subincision, where the urethra is slit open. I could be wrong, however. Regarding the penes of alligators: On Jackass, Chris Pontius was wrestling an alligator. At one point, he was holding it across his chest, belly-out, and the 'gator did indeed have a double penis. ---
**Author:** ![McKenna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/db5fbb/32.png) [@McKenna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McKenna)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/15 "2001-01-16T01:12:48Z")
Here’s a link on sexing snakes: [A little graphic but informative](http://www.vpi.com/9VPITipsAndTechs/DeterminingTheSexOfSnakes/DeterminingTheSexOfSnakes.htm) Apparently they sometimes get plugged up and that can be rather disconcerting to the keepers as well as the guy reptile. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Scruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/16 "2001-01-16T03:01:44Z")
> [@](#): > > hibernicus: I read the same story in “Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (but were afraid to ask)”. But what I think you’re thinking of is called subincision, where the urethra is slit open. I could be wrong, however. _AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!_ Maybe there is such a thing as too much knowledge; I would have been a happy member of the teeming millions without reading that. Parts of my anatomy are still experiencing twinges at the thought! ``` A cross-legged Scruff ``` ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/17 "2001-01-16T03:23:12Z")
Scruff, I thought that quote was pretty tame compared to this tidbit: > [@](#): > > **where a sharp stone is used to split the glans penis down the middle** Ouchie! ---
**Author:** ![McKenna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/db5fbb/32.png) [@McKenna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McKenna)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/18 "2001-01-16T04:59:49Z")
I’ve noticed that every thread on dogs quickly metamorphosizes into people talking about their cats. I’ve also noticed now that any thread about the human reproductive system quickly becomes about guys and their dicks. Now, it’s non-human anatomy, too! 😃 “Never underestimate the power of the penis” - Xander Harris, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-erm-appendages/50102/19 "2001-01-18T00:19:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by S-Terry Dan \* > \*\*Regarding the penes of alligators: On Jackass, Chris Pontius was wrestling an alligator. At one point, he was holding it across his chest, belly-out, and the 'gator did indeed have a double penis. \*\* I’m not sure what you saw, but crocodilians are not set up like lizards. From _Handbook of Alligators and Crocodiles_, 1991: > [@](#): > > **Male crocodilians have a single, undivided penis with which they engage in true sexual intercourse.** Turtles also have a single penis. Lizards and snakes are the only ‘amniote’ vertebrates (reptiles, birds, and mammals) that have paired penises. The Tuatara of New Zealand, which looks like a lizard but isn’t, has something like a vestigial version of hemipenes, but not really comparable to the lizard/snake situation. Note that the marsupial condition does not constitute having two penises, merely a single penis that is split at the tip into two forks.