Evolution returns to new paths in winding paths, even with regard to the pre-existence of the penis bone in humans. While most primates (ancestors and apes) possess it, it has completely disappeared in humans.
To look closely at the topic, researchers have been able to come up with an explanation for this stage of development, which in turn may disappoint some people.
The penis bone is one of the most unusual types of bone. The bone swings lonely at the end of the lower penis, with no contact between it and the rest of the skeleton.
Most mammals possess this bone, only man is the only one who does not possess it, or rather ... he no longer owns it! At some point in the development process, man lost this extraordinary bone.
The penis bone is very important, as it allows the male animal to have a long sexual intercourse with the female of the same type. Alongside dogs, cats, bats, and seals, human cousins: chimpanzees and gorillas also belong to the privileged penis bone owners, but what is puzzling is that people do not have the same erectile system.
To explain the main reasons for this type of bone disappearing in humans, researchers Kit Opie and Matilda Brindle of the University of London answer the most important points related to this change in a study called “Proceedings of the Royal Society”.
The more competition, the larger the penis bone size
According to the study published by researchers, the penis bone has existed in mammals more than 95 million years ago - that is, at the time when dinosaurs ruled the earth - and this bone appeared in the first primates (ancestors of humans) about 50 million years ago, the sizes of the penis bone vary From one biological type to another in a clear way, for example, the length of the penis bone is 5 cm in the macaque, while in bonobo it is only 8 mm
The researchers Opie and Matilda reached the conclusion that the primates that have a long penis bone have a longer sexual intercourse compared to other types, and the researchers mean more than 3 minutes.
The reason for this is because the female animal must remain protected during sexual intercourse and out of reach of other competing males, so that the combined male sperm can pave the way for quietly vaccinating an egg and thus ensuring offspring. Meanwhile, the penis bone stabilizes the male genital organ to maintain the longest erection time possible. In the event that there is no competition and there is no need to keep the female away from other competitors during intercourse, the penis bone, according to researchers, gradually begins to atrophy until it disappears.
The penis bone at the chimpanzee does not exceed the size of the fingernail of the human hand. Females in chimpanzee groups collectively coexist with all males, thereby pursuing a strategy to protect their young and keep them away from older males (in this case, the male loses the ability to identify the young and avoids killing them for fear that he is their true father). In the case of chimpanzees it can be said that there is no fear in the male of sexual competitors, so the process of sexual intercourse is usually too short to reach only a few seconds, and this is also due to the reason for the small size of the penis bone.
The human sexual process is short compared to the above
As for a person, the cause of the disappearance of the penis bone in males favors the emergence of a good type of social behavior in both sexes, which in turn has eliminated the rest of the atrophic penis bone found in the ancestors of ancient humans, namely: the transition from a polygamy living style To a monogamy lifestyle.
Scientists believe that the new way of life (monogamy) began to appear about two million years ago, i.e. when Homo Erectus appeared, instead of the practice of multiple sexual intercourse, the old person made up the principle of sincerity. According to the researchers, it then became very unlikely that a woman would surrender to a man other than her husband.
At the same time, the need to reserve and compete for a female is no longer present by males, so having a penis bone for a long period of erection becomes of little importance.
Does this mean now that the male gets a short sexual process compared to his predecessors?
Yes! Brindle answers: “The average duration, from penetration to ejaculation, is less than two minutes in males,” based on Kinsy Reports in his book (Sexual Behavior at the Male Remembrance), in addition to many researchers from 1948. In contrast, I found Another study in 2005 that the sexual process lasts on average 5.4 minutes at the present time in humans.