Posted: Jun 30, 2011 3:55 pm
Animavore wrote:So what's the intermediate? Males with bad aim?
It is probable that the ancestral state used the ... ummm ... normal channels. They lead sperm where they need to go. But if the male organ developed into something a little less gentle, piercing the canal, the possibility opens up to dispense with convention altogether. Particularly if the female canal is blocked by a previous suitor, selecting for the bypass method - and among them, for those with better aim. The female organ then becomes somewhat redundant, as do conventional suitors.