Up in the redwood covered mountains of Santa Cruz, CA, bright yellow mollusks called banana slugs reside in great abundance. Larger than the palm of your hand, rumor has it that their slime tastes like bananas. However, I've never had the guts to lick one myself, nor have I found a victim willing to do it for me as of yet.
In addition to their unusual appearance, banana slugs are also hermaphroditic and possess hunormous penises. In fact, in the Latin name of one species of banana slug, Ariolimax dolichophallus, dolichophallus means "giant penis." So much so that during mating, if the penis gets *ahem* stuck, its mate will chew it off in a process called "apophallation". (Who said biologists don't have a sense of humor?)
No wonder it's the mascot for U.C. Santa Cruz!
For more info on strange animal mating habits, check out the Neatorama blog. They had stuff even I didn't know!!!
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2 comments:
Okay, for a second there I thought I was looking at a snapshot from the Mekong Delta! (I don't have to remind you of the article, Yen!) I've NEVER seen banana slugs before, much less heard of their...*cough!* economy-sized packages.
At least they're hermaphroditic if one happens to chew off the other's...hm. (Disturbing imagery floats in my state of mind.) Uh, next topic, please! ;D
LOL! I grew up near Santa Cruz, but didn't learn of their bizarre mating habits until much later in college. In middle school, we were still stuck at the slug licking stage.
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