Dr. Tiana Pirtle

Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman, and you're listening to Science Versus. Today on the show, animal sex. Why so much that we've been taught about it is wrong. The story that seems to have stuck in our heads about how animals have sex is that the male, with their spear-like willy, plunges into a passive vagina. But it turns out that the truth is so much more complicated and so much more fun.

Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman, and you're listening to Science Versus. Today on the show, animal sex. Why so much that we've been taught about it is wrong. The story that seems to have stuck in our heads about how animals have sex is that the male, with their spear-like willy, plunges into a passive vagina. But it turns out that the truth is so much more complicated and so much more fun.

So to tell us all about this is Dr. Tiana Purtle at the University of Tasmania. Hi. Hi. Thanks for having me. And you should really watch this on video, which you can if you're watching this on Spotify, because Tiana brought props. Yes.

So to tell us all about this is Dr. Tiana Purtle at the University of Tasmania. Hi. Hi. Thanks for having me. And you should really watch this on video, which you can if you're watching this on Spotify, because Tiana brought props. Yes.

What's in the box? Well, this very, very special box is full of different animal vaginas. Woo! I may require a stabby implement. Yes. Not a penis. To open.

What's in the box? Well, this very, very special box is full of different animal vaginas. Woo! I may require a stabby implement. Yes. Not a penis. To open.

The box. Oh, my gosh. I've never been sent a box with animal vaginas. Oops, and I might have just destroyed your pencil or your pen a little bit. That's fine. That's what today's episode's all about, isn't it? Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's coming out? What's coming out?

The box. Oh, my gosh. I've never been sent a box with animal vaginas. Oops, and I might have just destroyed your pencil or your pen a little bit. That's fine. That's what today's episode's all about, isn't it? Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's coming out? What's coming out?

Who have we got here? Well, meet the family. Yes. Let's see. We've got the alpaca, common dolphin, couple rattlesnakes, dogfish shark, harbor porpoise, and a domestic duck.

Who have we got here? Well, meet the family. Yes. Let's see. We've got the alpaca, common dolphin, couple rattlesnakes, dogfish shark, harbor porpoise, and a domestic duck.

Amazing. Oh my God. Okay. So wait, how, wait, that looks like a penis. How is this a vagina?

Amazing. Oh my God. Okay. So wait, how, wait, that looks like a penis. How is this a vagina?

So these are all the internal negative space inside the vagina. So how did they make them? So how these got made was an animal died and the vagina was excised from the body and then filled with a silicone. So it created this mold of what is inside. The space that would be inside.

So these are all the internal negative space inside the vagina. So how did they make them? So how these got made was an animal died and the vagina was excised from the body and then filled with a silicone. So it created this mold of what is inside. The space that would be inside.

Okay. Yes, yes. That makes sense.

Okay. Yes, yes. That makes sense.

So the penis is going in.

So the penis is going in.

So this is inside. Yes.

So this is inside. Yes.