Evolution of the foreskin: Difference between revisions

Millions of years of evolution have fashioned the human body into a model of refinement, elegance, and efficiency, with every part having a function and purpose. Evolution has determined that mammals' genitals should be sheathed in a [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin| protective]], responsive, multipurpose [[foreskin]]. Every normal human being is born with a [[foreskin]]. In females, it protects the glans of the [[clitoris]]; in males, it protects the [[glans]] of the [[penis]]. Thus, the foreskin is an essential part of human sexual anatomy.<ref>{{REFjournal

  |url=https://www.cirp.org/news/1997/1997-12-01_Mothering.php

 

  |accessdate=2024-12-22

The [[prepuce]] has been well conserved by evolution.<ref name="cold-mcgrath"/> In primates, the [[foreskin]] has been present in the genitalia of both sexes of mammals for at least 65 million years and likely has been present for over 100 million years of evolution, based on its commonality as an anatomical feature in mammals.<ref>{{REFbook

  |url=https://darwin-online.org.uk/converted/published/1874_Descent_F944/1874_Descent_F944.html

  |accessdate=2024-12-22

}}</ref><ref name="short1981">{{REFbook

}}</ref> It has been proposed that the [[foreskin]] evolved to facilitate [[masturbation]],<ref name="cox1995">{{REFjournal

  |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0306987795902481

  |DOI=10.1016/0306-9877(95)90248-1

  |accessdate=2024-12-22

}}</ref> The human prepuce has an increase in corpuscular innervation and concomitant decrease in corpuscular receptors in the human [[glans]] compared to the prepuce and glans of lower primates, demonstrating an evolutionary advancement.<ref name="nadler1995">{{REFjournal

  |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajp.1350370204

  |pubmedID=31936943

  |accessdate=2024-12-22

  |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/402394

  |DOI=10.1353/pbm.1990.0008

  |accessdate=2024-12-22

}}</ref> The human [[penis]] has retained and modified its prepuce over an extraordinary period of evolution.<ref>{{REFjournal

  |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajp.1350130107

  |pubmedID=2188210

  |accessdate=2024-12-22

The rhesus monkey has fewer corpuscular receptors in the prepuce (foreskin) and more corpuscular receptors in the glans (head). In humans, however, the [[glans penis]] has few corpuscular receptors and predominant free nerve endings,<ref name="halata1997">{{REFjournal

|last=Halata

|init=Z

|last2=Spaethe

|init2=A

|title=Sensory Innervation of the Human Penis

|url=https://cirp.org/library/anatomy/halata2/

|DOI=10.1007/978-1-4615-5913-9_48

}}</ref>

 

In the human [[penis]], the [[prepuce]] is known to have ten times more corpuscular sensory receptors than the [[glans penis]].<ref name="halata1986">{{REFjournal

|last=Halata

|init=Z

|last2=Munger

|title=The neuroanatomical basis for the protopathic sensibility of the human glans penis  

|journal=Brain Res

|DOI=10.1016/0006-8993(86)90357-4

|accessdate=2024-12-22

}}</ref>

The male and female prepuce has persisted in all primates, which strongly supports the contention that the [[prepuce]] is valuable genital sensory tissue. The corpora cavernosa and the prepuce are the only two universally common characteristics of the primate penis.<ref name="cold-mcgrath"/><ref name="macaca"/> While the human [[glans penis]] is protopathic, the [[prepuce]] contains a high concentration of touch receptors in the [[Ridged band|ridged band]].<ref name="cold-mcgrath"/>

== Further reading ==

[[Image:The-Descent-of-Man-and-Selection-in-Relation-to-sex.gif|200x260px]]

[[Image:Primate_Origins_and_Evolution.gif‎|200x260px]]

[[Image:Perspectives_in_biology_and_medicine.gif‎|200x260px]]

[[Image:America_Journal_of_Primatology.gif‎|200x260px]]

[[Image:Studies_In_Neurology.gif‎|200x260px]]

[[Image:Why_Sex_Is_Fun.gif‎|200x260px]]

[[Image:Mothering.gif‎|200x260px]]

== Videos ==

=== Functions of The Foreskin - Part 1 ===

=== Functions of The Foreskin - Part 2 ===

* {{REFweb

  |url=https://intactaus.org/information/functions-of-the-foreskin/