I confess there are things that I read that surprise me, like this:

There comes a time in every science writer’s career when one must write about glass duck vaginas and explosive duck penises.

This particular science writer is Carl Zimmer. And he ain’t kidding about the amazing duck (well, actually drake) penis.

One hesitates even to guess what an analogous organ on a human being would be — six feet long, maybe? In any event, as a longtime propounder of the wonders of the natural world here at ErosBlog, I was promptly hooked by Zimmer’s blog post.

And oh man, is it something else. The weirdness only starts with the drakes’ giant clockwise turning penises, not really matched by ducks’ giant counterclockwise-turning vaginas. There’s also a tale of brutal intra-species sexual competition, complete with activities that could plausibly be called mass sexual assault by drakes on ducks.

But what you really need to do is scroll down and see the video of drakes being induced to have high speed erections and ejaculations. That’s like pretty much nothing I’ve ever seen on the Internets, and I wasn’t born yesterday.

Don’t watch in fullscreen mode if you’re squeamish about such things!

Double hat tip for this one: PZ Myers at Pharyngula and Jerry Coyne at Why Evolution is True.

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• Duck Penis
• Poor Old Tom
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