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Over the last 65 million years, the prepuce has offered reproductive advantages. Although advocates of mass circumcision hypothesize that the prepuce represents a design flaw, it is more likely that sexual selection has refined the external genitalia of each primate species for reproductive excellence.<ref name="cold-mcgrath">{{REFbook
| last=Cold, |first=Christopher; |last2=McGrath, Kenneth | first=Kenneth | year=1999 | title=Male and female circumcision: medical, legal, and ethical considerations in pediatric practice | url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/cold-mcgrath/ | editor= | edition= | volume= | chapter=Anatomy and histology of the penile and clitoral prepuce in primates | pages= | location=New York | publisher= | isbn=0306461315 | quote= | accessdate= | note=
}}</ref>
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 millions years of evolution, based on its commonality as an anatomical feature in mammals.<ref>{{REFbook
| last=Martin | first=Robert D. | year=1990 | title=Primate Origins and Evolution: A Phylogenetic Reconstruction | url= | editor= | edition= | volume= | chapter= | pages= | location=New Jersey | publisher=Princeton University Press | isbn=978-0-691-08565-4 | quote= | accessdate= | note=
}}</ref> The evolution of complex penile morphologies like the foreskin may have been influenced by females.<ref name="Diamond">{{REFbook
| last=Diamond | first=Jared M. | year=1997 | title=Why Sex is Fun: The Evolution of Human Sexuality | url= | editor= | edition= | volume= | chapter= | pages= | location=London | publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson | isbn=0465031269 | quote= | accessdate= | note=
}}</ref><ref>{{REFbook
| last=Darwin | first=Charles | year=1871 | title=The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex | url= | editor= | edition= | volume= | chapter= | pages= | location=London | publisher=Murray | isbn=1148750932 | quote= | accessdate= | note=
}}</ref><ref>{{REFbook
| last=Short | first=RV | year=1981 | title=Reproductive Biology of the Great Apes: Comparative and Biomedical Perspectives | url= | editor=Graham CE | edition= | volume= | chapter=Sexual selection in man and the great apes | pages= | location=New York | publisher=Academic Press | isbn= | quote= | accessdate= | note=
}}</ref> It has been proposed that the foreskin evolved to facilitate masturbation.<ref>{{REFjournal
| last=Cox
=== Further reading ===
* Denniston, GC, & Hodges, FM. (1999). Anatomy and histology of the penile and clitoral prepuce in primates. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
* Martin, RD. (1990). Primate origins and evolution: a phylogenetic reconstruction. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
=== Videos ===
<youtube>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9DoCn3gATE</youtube>
'''Functions of The Foreskin - Part 1'''