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David Dobbs on science, nature, and culture.

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dobbspic I write articles on science, medicine, nature, culture and other matters for the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Slate, National Geographic, Scientific American Mind, and other publications, and am working on my fourth book, The Orchid and the Dandelion, which expands on my recent December 2009 Atlantic article. In August 2010, I'll be moving to London for a year to work on the book. I'll also serve as a senior fellow at City University London's MA science journalism program.

You're encouraged to check out my third book Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral, which traces the strangest but most forgotten controversy in Darwin's career; subscribe to Neuron Culture by email; see more of my work at my main website; or track Twitter feed, my Google Reader shared items, or my Tumblr log, which gets it all.

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    « Quick dip: Healthcare reform, conflicted profs, and the vaccine shortage | Main | Gorgeous thing of the day: Sky's-eye view of the Maldives & other islands »

    "The male approaches with his thumbs (like the Fonz) and mounts the female (like the Fonz.)"

    Posted on: November 5, 2009 2:46 PM, by David Dobbs

    Tell me that doesn't leave you wanting more. Ed Yong delivers:

    Male bats create tents by biting leaves until they fall into shape. These provide shelter and double as harems, each housing several females who the male mates with. Fruit bat sex goes like this: the female approaches and sniffs the male, and both partners start to lick one another. The male makes approaches with his thumbs (like the Fonz) and mounts the female (like the Fonz). Sex itself is the typical rhythmic thrusting that we're used to, and afterwards, the male licks his own penis for several seconds.

    But Tan also found that female bat will often bend down to lick the shaft of her mate's penis during sex itself. This behaviour happened on 70% of the videos, making it the only known example of regular fellatio in a non-human animal.

    Posted via web from David Dobbs's Somatic Marker

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