P.S.Villar et al. (2026) studied #evolutionary aspects of the #copulatoryorgan in #male #octopuses and describe it as #multifunctional organ that performs two key #functions: the #hectocotylus is a specialized tentacle that delivers #spermatophores into the #female's #mantlecavity. But the authors identified it also as #chemotactile #receptor for #progesterone during #materecognition.
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Ref
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aec9652

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