Conquer Club

Scientists recently identified a new species of penis worm, a marine invertebrate named after its allegedly penislike shape.

As David Shultz writes at Science, “the penis worms are a group of marine invertebrates named for their penislike shape. All species of the tubular animals, which can reach lengths of 39 cm [15.35 inches], have an extensible mouth called a proboscis that is lined with sharp hooks, teeth, and spines.”

Researchers led by University of Cambridge paleobiologist Martin Smith used electron microscopy to examine and catalogue the teeth of 110 fossilized penis worms. The fossils were originally recovered from the paleontologically prolific Walcott Quarry, but for years have been housed in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and the Royal Ontario Museum. Smith and his colleagues used their observations to compile a “dentist’s handbook,” a reference guide that they then used to determine that the most common group of penis worm, Ottoia prolifica, should actually be classified as two distinct species: O. prolifica and the newly designated O. tricuspida.