Although the subject matter may be a bit sensitive, there is some exciting news for fruit bats. Two-thirds of female short-nosed fruit bats, Cynopterus sphinx, regularly perform fellatio on their male partners, according to a recently released study.
In order to study the mating habits of the short-nosed fruit bat, biologists from Guangdong Entomological Institute, paired males and females in cages to simulate their natural environment. Infrared cameras were set up. The study revealed the male bats were busy building tents out of leaves to attract females. Once courtship began, both sexes groomed each other.
But researchers also discovered 70 percent of the females performed fellatio on their male mates. As a result, the females were then rewarded with longer intercourse. According to the study, one second of fellatio resulted in six additional seconds of copulation, on average. For the females that performed fellatio, intercourse lasted about four minutes, twice the average.
While the sexual activity favors the male, it may also benefit the female as well. Theories of the behavior include distracting the males from other females or facilitating sperm transportation. Saliva may provide protection against sexually transmitted diseases. The act may also facilitate chemical cues associated with mate choice. And Paul Vasey, behavioral scientist from the University of Lethbridge, said the act could be performed for evolutionary reasons or perhaps the bats are just doing it for fun.
Although the news may be hard to swallow, this is particularly exciting news for the animal kingdom. Besides humans, oral sex has only been recorded by bonobos chimpanzees, Pan paniscus.
The study, Fellatio by Fruit Bats Prolong Copulation Time, is published in PLoS ONE. A video is also available.
Fruit Bat J.M. Garg
If we discover that most animals give oral sex to each other, what have we learned and what can we extrapolate to the human experience?
So does that mean that we should search out the women with visible bat Tattoos?
Will that be a new signal?
If a man has a bat Tattoo? What does that mean? I’m so confused!!
In Galveston in 2006 I saw a fruit bat delicately licking it’s own erect penis. The bat was hanging upside down, but just can’t remember the orientation of the penis. Most likely pointing down. It was a very memorable sight.