↓ Skip to main content

Female Penis, Male Vagina, and Their Correlated Evolution in a Cave Insect

Overview of attention for article published in Current Biology, April 2014
Altmetric Badge

About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (99th percentile)

Citations

dimensions_citation
68 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
293 Mendeley
Title
Female Penis, Male Vagina, and Their Correlated Evolution in a Cave Insect
Published in
Current Biology, April 2014
DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.022
Pubmed ID
Authors

Kazunori Yoshizawa, Rodrigo L. Ferreira, Yoshitaka Kamimura, Charles Lienhard

Abstract

Sex-specific elaborations are common in animals and have attracted the attention of many biologists, including Darwin [1]. It is accepted that sexual selection promotes the evolution of sex-specific elaborations. Due to the faster replenishment rate of gametes, males generally have higher potential reproductive and optimal mating rates than females. Therefore, sexual selection acts strongly on males [2], leading to the rapid evolution and diversification of male genitalia [3]. Male genitalia are sometimes used as devices for coercive holding of females as a result of sexual conflict over mating [4, 5]. In contrast, female genitalia are usually simple. Here we report the reversal of intromittent organs in the insect genus Neotrogla (Psocodea: Prionoglarididae) from Brazilian caves. Females have a highly elaborate, penis-like structure, the gynosome, while males lack an intromittent organ. The gynosome has species-specific elaborations, such as numerous spines that fit species-specific pouches in the simple male genital chamber. During prolonged copulation (~40-70 hr), a large and potentially nutritious ejaculate is transferred from the male via the gynosome. The correlated genital evolution in Neotrogla is probably driven by reversed sexual selection with females competing for seminal gifts. Nothing similar is known among sex-role reversed animals.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 1,567 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 293 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Brazil 7 2%
United States 5 2%
Switzerland 2 <1%
Portugal 2 <1%
Czechia 2 <1%
United Kingdom 2 <1%
Cuba 1 <1%
France 1 <1%
Canada 1 <1%
Other 6 2%
Unknown 264 90%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 56 19%
Student > Ph. D. Student 50 17%
Student > Bachelor 40 14%
Student > Master 39 13%
Professor > Associate Professor 18 6%
Other 45 15%
Unknown 45 15%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 165 56%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 18 6%
Environmental Science 13 4%
Social Sciences 5 2%
Neuroscience 5 2%
Other 33 11%
Unknown 54 18%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1817. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 08 March 2024.
All research outputs
#5,560
of 25,593,129 outputs
Outputs from Current Biology
#59
of 14,762 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#14
of 239,044 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Current Biology
#1
of 158 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,593,129 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 14,762 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 62.1. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 239,044 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 158 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.