Back Penis Afrikaans Penis ALS Pene AN قضيب (عضو ذكري) Arabic Pene AST Otcakamo ATJ Allu Aymara Celak BAN Zipfe BAR Putoy BCL
| Penis | |
|---|---|
 Penis of an Asian elephant | |
| Details | |
| Precursor | Genital tubercle (amniotes) |
| System | Reproductive system, sometimes with the genitourinary system |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | penis |
| Anatomical terminology | |
A penis (/ˈpiːnɪs/; pl.: penises or penes) is a male sex organ that is used to inseminate female or hermaphrodite animals during copulation.[1][2] Such organs occur in both vertebrates and invertebrates, including humans, but not in all male animals.
The term penis applies to many intromittent organs, but not to all. As an example, the intromittent organ of most Cephalopoda is the hectocotylus, a specialized arm, and male spiders use their pedipalps. Even within the Vertebrata, there are morphological variants with specific terminology, such as hemipenes.
- ^ Janet Leonard; Alex Cordoba-Aguilar R (18 June 2010). The Evolution of Primary Sexual Characters in Animals. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-971703-3. Archived from the original on 11 October 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ Schmitt, V.; Anthes, N.; Michiels, N. K. (2007). "Mating behaviour in the sea slug Elysia timida (Opisthobranchia, Sacoglossa): hypodermic injection, sperm transfer and balanced reciprocity". Frontiers in Zoology. 4: 17. doi:10.1186/1742-9994-4-17. ISSN 1742-9994. PMC 1934903. PMID 17610714.