Alpaca sex is even weirder than you think
![A photo of an alpaca by Felicia Varzari, photo from unsplash](/sites/default/files/styles/1170x780/public/2024-05/Alpacas-by-felicia-varzari-C0OuxiWNdoo-unsplash.jpg?h=0d27ee61&itok=qVnH3EcX)
Mount Holyoke College Associate Professor Patricia Brennan鈥檚 research has revealed the mating method of alpacas to be unlike any other known mammal. During copulation, male alpacas have been found to inseminate females directly into the uterus.
A shows that alpaca sex is weird, biologically speaking.
Patricia Brennan, associate professor of biological sciences at 果冻传媒 College, and a team of biologists, in collaboration with the North American Camelid Studies Program, the , have discovered that male alpacas inseminate females directly into the uterus during mating.
The team examined the reproductive tracts of several female alpacas shortly after they were culled for meat.
The findings were reported to be 鈥渁stonishing,鈥 according to Nature World News. The news also made a splash on and .
Brennan鈥檚 research was even mentioned by Stephen Colbert on 鈥溾 during his regular segment, 鈥淢eanwhile.鈥 [Section begins at 5:04.]
The study shows that the male alpaca鈥檚 penis, which is described as a 鈥渇ibro-elastic phallus with a spear-like cartilage tip,鈥 bypasses the vagina entirely and penetrates into the uterus.
The research also shows that this reproductive method inflicts small internal injuries, raising questions about copulatory harm and immunity of the female reproductive tract.