And he doesn’t use that for penetration. When the researchers studied Jeucken’s images, among other things, the European team concluded that the bat uses the penis as an ‘arm’ during mating, writes broadcaster Gelderland.
Special documentation
Jan Jeucken from Horst aan de Maas has been filming bats in the attic of the St. Matthias Church in Castenray near Venray for eight years and has captured 93 matings.
For the first time, a mammal has been documented that reproduces without penetrating during mating, reports a ‘stunned’ researcher from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
The male uses his penis to push the female’s tail skin aside. This is followed by a long, silent embrace, during which sperm is transferred. How exactly this happens remains to be further investigated.
Seven times as long and wide
Penetration with the enormous penis would also actually be impossible, as the penis of this particular bat is a whopping seven times longer in length than the length of the vaginas of its female counterparts.
Also notable is that the glans expands in the shape of a heart and becomes much wider than the partner’s vagina, also about seven times. This makes any penetration impossible, the researchers said.
