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The penis may have a hitherto unsuspected function. Experiments with latex phalluses, an artificial vagina and a mixture of starch and water support the idea that it evolved to act as a “semen displacement device”, reports Gordon Gallup’s team at the State University of New York. They found that the coronal ridge where the glans meets the shaft could scoop out more than 90 per cent of the cornstarch mixture with just one thrust, while a phallus with no coronal ridge only managed to remove 35 per cent (Evolution and Human Behavior, vol 24, p 277). The depth…