# The story of the boatman's singing penis - It sang loudly and often!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-boatmans-singing-penis-it-sang-loudly-and-often/666859>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 22, 2013, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-boatmans-singing-penis-it-sang-loudly-and-often/666859 "2013-08-22T05:26:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-boatmans-singing-penis-it-sang-loudly-and-often/666859/1 "2013-08-22T05:26:11Z")

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[Singing penis wins insect the loudest animal title](http://newslite.tv/2011/07/01/singing-penis-wins-insect-loud.html)

[Audio here](http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13958630)

> [@](#):
>
> A tiny water boatman is the loudest animal on Earth relative to its body size, a study has revealed.
> 
> Scientists from France and Scotland recorded the aquatic animal “singing” at up to 99.2 decibels, the equivalent of listening to a loud orchestra play while sitting in the front row.
> 
> The insect makes the sound by rubbing its penis against its abdomen in a process known as “stridulation”.

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**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-boatmans-singing-penis-it-sang-loudly-and-often/666859/2 "2013-08-22T05:42:00Z")

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That boatman’s stridulating like a motherfucker!

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**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-boatmans-singing-penis-it-sang-loudly-and-often/666859/3 "2013-08-22T06:13:48Z")

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Why are all their songs 30 seconds long?

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-boatmans-singing-penis-it-sang-loudly-and-often/666859/4 "2013-08-22T06:17:39Z")

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If my math is correct, if that little bug were a 6-foot man, his penis would sing at 90,708.48 decibels.

(The loudest known single event in human history was the 1908 Tunguska Meteor, at 300-315 decibels.)

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**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-boatmans-singing-penis-it-sang-loudly-and-often/666859/5 "2013-08-22T06:47:46Z")

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And I thought this was going to be about a previously-unknown pre-war Disney short. 🙂

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**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-boatmans-singing-penis-it-sang-loudly-and-often/666859/6 "2013-08-22T15:13:35Z")

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I was picturing a Venetian gondolier.  
\*\*  
“LA DONNA E MOBILE…”\*\*

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**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-boatmans-singing-penis-it-sang-loudly-and-often/666859/7 "2013-08-22T18:44:13Z")

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> [@astorian](#):
>
> I was picturing a Venetian gondolier.

So was I. 🙂

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-boatmans-singing-penis-it-sang-loudly-and-often/666859/8 "2013-08-23T04:34:17Z")

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So glad I only have to deal with the occasional cricket that gets in the house.