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Information about Hemipenis

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An everted hemipenis of a North American rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus)
A hemipenis (plural hemipenes) is one of a pair of intromittent organs of male squamata (snakes, lizards and amphisbaenia). Hemipenes are usually held inverted, within the body, and are everted for reproduction via erectile tissue like that in the human penis. Only one is used at a time, and some evidence indicates males alternate use between copulations. The hemipenis itself has a variety of shapes, depending upon species. Often the hemipenis bears spines or hooks, in order to anchor the male within the female. Some species even have forked hemipenes (each hemipenis has two tips). Due to being everted and inverted, hemipenes do not have a completely enclosed channel for the conduction of sperm, but rather a seminal groove which seals as the erectile tissue expands.
An intromittent organ is a general term for any an external organ of a male organism that is specialized to deliver sperm during copulation. Intromittent organs are found most often in terrestrial species, as most aquatic species fertilize their eggs externally, although there are
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Squamata
Oppel, 1811

black: range of Squamata


Suborders
see text

This article is about the Squamata order of reptiles. For the Roman scale armour see: Lorica squamata.

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Serpentes
Linnaeus, 1758

Infraorders and Families
  • Alethinophidia - Nopcsa, 1923
  • Acrochordidae- Bonaparte, 1831

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Lacertilia*
Günther, 1867

Families

Many, see text.

Lizards are reptiles of the order Squamata, normally possessing four legs, external ear openings and movable eyelids.
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Amphisbaenia
Gray, 1844

black: range of Amphisbaenia


The Amphisbaenia are a suborder of peculiar, usually legless squamates closely related to lizards and snakes, in spite of their resemblance to earthworms (many
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Erectile tissue is tissue in the body that can become erect, usually by becoming engorged with blood. Erectile tissue exists in places such as the corpora cavernosa of the penis and in the clitoris.
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For the symbol of the erect penis, see phallus.
The penis (plural penises, penes) is an external sexual organ of certain biologically male organisms.
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mating is the pairing of opposite-sex or hermaphroditic internal fertilization animals for copulation and, in social animals, also to raise their offspring. Mating methods include random mating, disassortative mating, assortative mating, or a mating pool.
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sperm is derived from the word spermos (meaning "seed") and refers to the male reproductive cells. Sperm cells are the smaller gametes involved in fertilization.
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