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My research focuses on the functional morphology of intromittent organs in two groups of vertebrates: amniotes and teleost fish. Intromittent organs have evolved several times in both groups -- as inflatable penises in amniotes, and as modified anal fins called gonopodia in teleosts. I use anatomical and biomechanical techniques to examine how intromittent organs perform under the mechanical regime imposed by copulation. My long term goals are (1) to characterize the largely undescribed link between the anatomical design of vertebrate intromittent organs and their erectile and copulatory function, (2) to determine whether these vertebrates optimize intromittent organ design to maximize flexural stiffness, and (3) to determine whether design limitations for producing a stiffened structure restricts selection acting on intromittent organs.
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