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Jun 15, 2009 02:12 PM | 27
Herpetologist Robert Drewes will forever be remembered for his two-inch Phallus.
In the upcoming issue of the journal Mycologia, scientists describe a new species of stinkhorn fungus from Africa, which they christened Phallus drewesii in honor of their expedition leader.
“I am utterly delighted,” Drewes told the San Jose Mercury News, “The funny thing is that it is the second smallest known mushroom in this genus and it grows sideways, almost limp.”
As the California Academy of Sciences’ curator of herpetology, Drewes has spent his career wrangling snakes and chasing after frogs. Since 2001, he has been leading scientific expeditions to the sparsely populated islands of Sâo Tomé and Príncipe off the coast of West Africa, home to hundreds of plant and animal species found nowhere else on earth.
In 2006, he made the mistake of bringing along his longtime friend, Dennis Desjardin, a mushroom expert at San Francisco State University who recognized the phallic fungus sprouting from a piece of wood as new to science. Stinkhorns like Phallus drewsii, are found mostly in the tropics and their characteristic shape helps them emit an odor of dung or carrion that attracts flies to disperse their spores. The stinkhorn was one of 225 fungus species that expedition scientists collected during two trips to the region, and it is the third species named after Drewes, who also has a snake and a frog to call his own.
“None of my colleagues . . . will let me live it down,” Drewes told the newspaper, “But I love it. It is a form of immortality.”
Image of stinkhorn courtesy Brian Perry
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27 Comments
Add Commentbaaaaaaahahahahahahahahaha
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat makes this more "penis-shaped" than so many other mushrooms? The little blob at the bottom?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell I see only two possibilities, either you've never seen a penis or most mushrooms, or you wanted to take the opportunity to post the word penis in a public forum. Stink horns are by far, more phallic shaped than most mushrooms. I the case of Scientific American the only reason they printed this article was to use the word "penis". They could have just as easily used the term "phallic shaped" , but chose not to because it would not have evoked the same response. They said sex sells, so lets print it and use the word penis. It's really very sad!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think the editor of SA is a friend of that of Onion.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNo word yet on whether or not ExTenze pills will make the mushroom grow...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiscnredd
Politicalwrinkles
http://www.politicalwrinkles.com
What it is really very sad is how uptight you are.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDitto that! oddy it seems might need some penis to calm down! !!sheesh!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRegardless of its name, it''s a fascinating new discovery! In all the centuries of humankind, and particularly the decades of scientific exploration, we are still finding new things on the earth and below the oceans. Get past your "purient disgust" and appreciate the discovery!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRegardless of its name, it''s a fascinating new discovery! In all the centuries of humankind, and particularly the decades of scientific exploration, we are still finding new things on the earth and below the oceans. Get past your "purient disgust" and appreciate the discovery!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDear Cataleta and Sarus, if you had read the article and paid any attention you'd have noticed that the only time they used the word "penis" was in the title. The rest of the entire article they chose to use the term "phallic". Why only use the term penis in the title and no where else? I'm not at all up tight about the use of the term penis in a public forum, but this is supposed to be a scientific publication used to disseminate meaningful or interesting scientific information to the public.The use of the word penis in the title was an obvious attempt to use sex for something other than the dissemination pertinent scientific information. I read many scientific publications and SA seems to be the only one that operates in this fashion. Articles such as this only cheapen their publication and do little to educate the public as a whole.I do concede that this article was somewhat humorous, but was of little value the the public. I do apologize for attacking the first post on this subject, I need to try to realize that there are some people that are not mature enough to approach this subject without giggling while they respond. Your failure to recognize this and instead attack me speaks volumes about yourselves. Truly very sad. :-(
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisan obvious case of penis envy
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisehrichweiss, That 'little blob' would be the scrotum like shape, which coincidentally is the volva (opposed to vulva). I'm not kidding!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have no problem with anatomy. Oddy must go 'nuts' reading science journals.
see URL ~anatomy of the mushroom~
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/icons/anatomy.jpg
This article is a great human interest story for the general public, not just for science nerds. I say that if the title brought someone here to read the article who otherwise wouldn't have bothered about some dumb mushroom, then getting science out to the general public has succeeded. And, all to the better if it actually sparked someone's interest in mushrooms or science generally! I am somewhat of a science nerd, but I am lacking somewhat in my knowledge of fungus and mushrooms - I didn't know that most stinkhorns have a phallic appearance. It's a very Cool article, regardless of whether the words phallus, penis, or male genitalia are/were used.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisheh heh heh herpe-tologists heh heh heh
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHerpetology (from Greek: ����̽, herpeton, "creeping animal" and -�����, -logia) is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including the frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and gymnophionae) and of reptiles (including snakes, lizards, amphisbaenids, turtles, terrapins, tortoises, crocodilians, and the tuataras).
Herpetology is concerned with poikilothermic, ectothermic tetrapods. "Herps" (or sometimes "herptiles" or "herpetofauna") include reptiles and amphibians, but exclude fish.
heh heh hehe penis heh heh heh
I miss my subscription to this mag
Oh!!! I have a mushroom-shaped penis!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi love how you used the word 'disseminate'
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMan, I used to read the old SA in magazine form. I couldn't get through most of the articles because sooner or later some chemistry or calculus came into and my goose was cooked. But I loved feeling that the mag did not speak down to me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNow -- wow! They are trying so hard to be hip, man, like -- cool. It's about as hip as Jay Leno's motorcycles.
Bring back the old, difficult, intelligent, serious SA!
Pardon the pun,but I see no mention of whether it's edible or not.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have a penis and have seen Morel mushrooms(as well as fake morels) that look lots like this one so what was your point?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI was asking a legit question so maybe you could try answering a question rather than being insulting.
And you're not uptight?!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd you're not uptight?!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd you're not uptight?!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have a similar mushroom growing in my flower bed. It is a lot like the Phallus Drewsii, but gets a little larger than 2in. The base or egg shape is exactly like the Phallus Drewsii. Does anybody know what this might be?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI live in Naperville Il right out in front of my dining room window i am growing penis mushrooms literally. I have pictures of them. I thought they were only growing in some part of Africa. Well there in my mulch in my back yard. Sue Wittke
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