[Royden Edward Hodgskin]

Royden Edward Hodgskin asked the Naked Scientists:

Does the hymen appear in other mammals or only humans? And if so, what is the scientific and biological purpose?

What do you think?

[Evie]

This list is from our friends at Wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymen

These animals all have a hymen:

Squirrels
Antelopes
Gazelles
Frogs
Lake Trouts
Dalmations (not labs)
Parakeet
Robins (but not cardinals)
Bats
Cats
Chimpanzees
Clownfish, but not other species of fish
Dogs
Slugs
Elephants
Llamas
Galago (Bush babies)
Guinea pigs
Horses
Zebras
Lemurs
Manatees
Moles
Rats
Seals
Toothed whales
Chinchillas
Platypus
Narwhals
Alpacas
Bobolinks
Clams
White Footed Deer Mice
Meerkats
Moose
Ponies
Rattlesnakes
Shrews
Ladybird

[ascloka]

I'm wondering, what about the other animals then?

[Vic Sage]

Function of the human hymen
A. J. HOBDAY, L. HAURY, P. K. DAYTON
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
published 1997
"Although noted often, another sexual structure has no
satisfactory explanation. According to most sources,
human females are the only animal to possess a
hymen (2,5,8), but abnormal occurrences in a heifer
(9) and a spaniel (10) have been reported. Hymens
have been reported in African elephants, where in
fact the hymen is not broken by mating, but only
during birth (11).
The function of this structure is unknown (12,13),
and the few explanations, upon critical consideration,
are largely unsatisfactorily. This paper examines
the existing hypotheses for the likely function of
this unique structure and proposes a more plausible
explanation."

This is a quote from a paper published by those listed above and does not represent my own research. Since the paper is published in an open forum and the quote used for information purposes only with proper citation no infringement is intended.