IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Yates, B.C. | |
| Distinguishing real vs fake tiger penises | |
| 2005 Full Book | |
The penis from a real tiger has a small triangular baculum (Fig. 9), but it is seldom visible even in an x-ray, being obscured by folds in dense, dried tissues (See Fig. 3). The genitalia of other mammals are used in the wildlife trade, and can usually be identified by the size and shape of the internal penis bone or baculum. Sometimes the dried genitals must be macerated or cleaned by dermestid beetles to extract the baculum. X-rays are the best screening tool for initial examination of the dried penis. An expert should be consulted to interpret the radiographs. However, there are some guidelines that can be used to eliminate tiger as a suspected species source when examining dried genitalia. Table 1 summarizes these points. |
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