If you’ve ever worried about the size of your penis, you might find comfort in knowing that the appendage you’re packing probably isn’t as small as you think.
It’s all about relativity at the end of the day, and the human penis is actually pretty big in comparison to our closest living relatives (and I don’t mean your cousin who lives the next block over).
By that I mean primates, i.e animals like gorillas and orangutang.
According to research obtained by Mail Online, the average human penis comes in at 5.1 inches when erect, while chimps and bonobos are — on average — 3.1 inches.
As for orangutang, they’re said to be around 3.3 inches in length, and gorillas are just 1.25 inches (when it’s not in use, if you get me). This isn’t much longer than your typical paperclip.
The stark difference between humans and other primates’ packages has raised questions for some, but Simon Underdown, professor of biological anthropology at Oxford Brookes University, has now shared his thoughts on the matter.
Firstly, he believes the change happened when humans first started walking on two legs all those millions of years ago.
When this change happened, it made things somewhat more difficult for men to hit the right spot when it comes to conceiving with a female partner.
Basically, a person’s manhood needs to go deep enough to the vagina and into the cervix so that semen reaches a woman’s eggs.
To tackle this issue, men’s penises have evolved to be longer.
“Chimps and other primates don’t need to be big because they’re not bipedal and hence getting things to the right location is not an issue,” Underdown went on to explain.
He added: “Just think about how quick most animal mating is when you see it on David Attenborough documentaries.”
I don’t think it’s just the animals on David Attenborough’s documentaries that this happens to, Simon…
While humans might be the king of swingers (sorry) when it comes to penis length, the same can’t be said when it comes to testicles.
As to why, it’s believed it’s down to primates’ mating habits.
“Essentially, male chimps have sex all the time with any female and with any excuse,” said Mark Maslin, professor of palaeoclimatology at University College London.
“A female therefore may contain sperm from multiple partners at any one time, which puts the sperm itself – and not just the animals that produce it – into direct competition.
“For this reason, chimpanzees have evolved huge testicles in order to produce massive amounts of sperm, multiple times a day.”
