Nature's Nether Regions

Praise for Nature's Nether Regions

"A very nice book; perfect for reading on the plane."
--Isabella Rossellini

"A closer look between the legs (or, in the case of the Australian velvet worm, on the head) to explore what the sex lives of various creatures can teach us about reproduction, diversity and human sexuality.... I actually missed my stop on the train this morning because I was engrossed in the chapter about duck sex."
--Lindsay Abrams, Salon

"From the very first page, Menno Schilthuizen makes us both laugh and think about the bewildering genital variation in the animal kingdom. We laugh at the outrageous shapes these organs take, and think about the central issue of this book: how genital anatomy advances male and female procreation. An exhilarating and most informative read!"
--Frans de Waal, author of The Bonobo and the Atheist

"When writing about genitals, it is difficult to find the correct balance between dry scientific description and pure titillation, but ecologist and evolutionary biologist Schilthuizen, in this remarkable book that explores the evolutionary origins of sex organs, succeeds in finding exactly the right tone.... Schilthuizen's entertaining work reminds us not to take 'the mechanics of sexual intercourse' for granted."
--Publishers Weekly

"A provocative voyage on the 'vast ocean of sexual function beyond the quiet backwater that we humans find ourselves in.'"
--Kirkus

"The science of genitals is a relatively new field for biologists, who have long overlooked the evolutionary importance of species' private parts. Biologist Schilthuizen balances the silly and the serious to describe researchers' latest efforts to understand how 'evolution has graced the animal kingdom with such a bewildering diversity of reproductive organs.' Schilthuizen tours some of nature's weirdest inventions, such as the chicken flea penis, which is 'actually a profusion of plates, combs, springs, and levers' and looks like 'an exploded grandfather clock.'"
--Scientific American