Titel
Female Genital Variation Far Exceeds That of Male Genitalia: A Review of Comparative Anatomy of Clitoris and the Female Lower Reproductive Tract in Theria
Autor*in
Anna Nele Herdina
Division of Clinical Virology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna
Günter Wagner
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University
Abstract
A review of the literature on the anatomy of the lower female genital tract in therian mammals reveals, contrary to the general perception, a large amount of inter-specific variation. Variation in females is anatomically more radical than that in the male genitalia. It includes the absence of whole anatomical units, like the cervix in many Xenarthra, or the absence of the urogenital sinus (UGS), as well as the complete spatial separation of the external clitoral parts from the genital canal (either vagina or UGS). A preliminary phylogenetic analysis shows two patterns. Some morphs are unique to early branching clades, like the absence of the cervix, while others arose multiple times independently, like the flattening out or loss of the UGS, or the extreme elongation of the clitoris. Based on available information, the ancestral eutherian configuration of the external female genitalia included a cervix, a single vaginal segment, a tubular UGS, and an unperforated clitoris close to the entrance of the genital canal. The evidence for either bilobed or unitary glandes clitorides is ambivalent. Despite the wealth of information available, many gaps in knowledge remain and will require a community-wide effort to come to a more robust model of female genital evolutionary patterns.
Stichwort
Plant ScienceAnimal Science and Zoology
Objekt-Typ
Sprache
Englisch [eng]
Persistent identifier
phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1624863
Erschienen in
Titel
Integrative and Comparative Biology
Band
62
Ausgabe
3
ISSN
1540-7063
Erscheinungsdatum
2022
Seitenanfang
581
Seitenende
601
Publication
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Fördergeber
Erscheinungsdatum
2022
Zugänglichkeit
Rechte
Rechteangabe
© The Author(s) 2022
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