Peeking at private parts, for science

Peppered with personal stories, historical context, and examples from across the animal kingdom, Nature's Nether Regions provides an accessible and entertaining account of one of the most fundamental, but long overlooked, aspects of biodiversity – animal genitalia. Belying their seemingly simple function, genitalia often exhibit bizarre shapes and sizes. Taxonomists have known this for centuries, employing genital morphology to identify species. But research aimed at unraveling why genitalia evolve such elaborate forms did not take root until recent decades.