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Dolphins were the case that settled an old argument

The question of whether animals feel pleasure had an anatomical answer.

Dolphins were the case that settled an old argument
Photo: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

It was assumed for a long time that non-human animals had sex for reproduction and nothing else. Dolphins have always been the awkward exception — they mate year-round, in same-sex pairings, outside any fertile window, and with evident persistence.

In 2022 a dissection study of bottlenose dolphin clitorises found large erectile bodies, an unusually dense supply of nerve endings, and thin skin over the surface — the same combination that in humans is understood to produce pleasure. The anatomy settled what the behaviour had suggested for fifty years.

Sources

Brennan et al., Current Biology (2022); Connor et al. (2000)

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