Which species of animal has the largest penis? I’d be interested in knowing which one in both relative and absolute terms.
For our purposes, ‘largest’ can be defined either length-wise or volumetrically, and ‘relative’ could be determine by either penile length/body length or penile volume/body volume.
If we were to rank all know species according to relative penis size, how far down from the top of the list would man be?
Regarding the “whale penis = dork” thing, I have never been able to find an authoratative cite for that. I suspect it’s bogus.
The champions for relative length are certain species of barnacle, in which the penis is up to twenty times longer than the animal itself. Since they are not mobile, penis length determines how many other individuals will be accessible.
Probably. But it was right in the middle of the bit I wanted top quote and I didn’t feel like snipping it out. Actually, that was the first I’d ever heard of it.
Blue whales can be as large as 94 ft. in length. A 10 ft. penis on a 94 ft. whale would be equivalent to 7 11/16" penis on a 6 ft. man. Large, but clearly not huge.
However, if a 6 ft. man had a penis comparable to that of a barnacle, it would be 1,440 inches in length.
Slightly off topic, but the Ostracod penis is the world’s oldest preserved specimen at 100 million years old. The Ostracod also produces a sperm 10 times its own body length :eek:
They are underestimating the poor barnacle. Some acorn barnacles, as I mentioned, have a penis 20 times (or 2000%) their body length. The banana slug’s is a mere 5.4 times body length.
Banana slugs, which are simultaneous hermaphrodites (male and female at the same time) have the interesting habit of sometimes gnawing off each other’s penises once mating has been completed.
The barnacle’s endowment gives additional perspective on the significance of some of the raunchier verses of that classic sea shanty “Barnacle Bill the Sailor.”
I have heard the allegation about the marine iguana before, but I doubt very much it can compete with the other species mentioned.