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According to a new study, scientists have found that dolphins have clitorises similar to humans’, which they take advantage of when having sex,聽female on female.聽

A new study in the journal,聽, found that dolphins, who like humans have sex to maintain social bonds as well as for breeding purposes, have clitorises that have developed for pleasure.聽

During the study, researchers examined the genitals of 11 female bottlenose dolphins that had passed away from natural causes and found they had erectile tissue structure under their clitorises, along with lots of blood vessels, large nerves, and nerve endings just under the skin.聽

They are so similar to a human鈥檚 clitoris that it led the scientists to hypothesise that the dolphins feel pleasure during sex, which could be the reason why they have it so often.

Patricia Brennan, a biologist and lead researcher of the study, told the , 鈥�Bottlenose dolphins live close to the shore, where scientists can go out on their boats and study them.

鈥淭hey see them having sex year-round, even when the females are not receptive, so not ready to get pregnant and have babies.聽

鈥淎nd not only do they have sex all the time, they have a lot of homosexual sex as well.鈥�

So how does it work?

According to Brennan,聽鈥淭he females will rub each other鈥檚 clitorises with their snouts and their flippers really often.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not like every once in a blue moon you鈥檒l see females stimulating each other, it鈥檚 actually pretty common. Females also masturbate.

鈥淚f they鈥檙e out there seeking all these sexual experiences, it鈥檚 likely that it鈥檚 probably feeling good.鈥�

Studying the Dolphin鈥檚 Genitals Assists in Understanding Human Sexuality

What dolphins reveal about the evolution of the clitoris

— New Scientist (@newscientist)

The reason they do this is that it assists in learning about human sexuality and pleasure.聽

When speaking with the , Brennan explained that animal sexuality is not well understood. She mentioned this is not surprising as scientists did not completely understand the human clitoris until the 1990s.聽She also聽said that studies such as these could give us further insight into human pleasure.聽

鈥淭here are certainly plenty of females who have problems during sex, for example, related to arousal, or related to pain during sex or inability to orgasm,鈥� said Brennan.

鈥淭here are people who are uncomfortable with studies of sexual behaviour in general, whether in humans or other animals,鈥� she told the New Scientist. 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 mean that sex is unimportant or that we shouldn鈥檛 be studying it.鈥�