The Aptly Named Microbrachius Dicki Invented Sex 385 Million Years Ago
Before the arrival of Microbrachius dicki about 385 million years ago, aquatic animals reproduced by spawning; that is, the female laid down a bunch of unfertilized eggs while the male spread his spermatozoa over them. Then little dicki (no insult intended) came along and started the wonderful process we call copulation.
The primitive bony fish, a little over 3 inches long (and here let me mention that size does not matter), lived in ancient lakes in what is now Scotland. Here's the story:
phys.org, 19 Oct 2014, Sex? It all started 385 million years ago (w/ Video)
It may not have been love as we know it, but around 385 million years ago, our very distant ancestors—armoured fish called placoderms—developed the art of intercourse.
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Placoderms have previously been found to be the most primitive jawed animal—the earliest known vertebrate forerunner of humans.
But they now have an even more honoured place in the book of life.
Microbrachius is the first known species to copulate in order to carry out internal fertilisation, according to a paper published on Sunday in the journal Nature.
Male fish had bony, L-shaped genital limbs called claspers which transferred sperm into the female, a more effective way of reproduction compared to spawning in the water, the study says.
The females, for their part, developed small, paired bones with which they locked the male organs in place in order to copulate.
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If the new study is right, the "claspers," over hundreds of millions of years, evolved into the penis.
The following YouTube video is rather explicit so view only if you are not easily offended by scenes of copulation.
YouTube, Microbrachius dicki - first-known animal to have sex
For feminists, copulation may be an evolutionary step backwards compared to spawning, but I believe, contrary to the current Islamic belief that the clitoris is an unnecessary and problematic appendage, that it's a good thing that women get to enjoy a little dicki before reproducing. If you do not live in a Muslim country, then you've come a long way, baby.
