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425 MILLION YEAR OLD PECKER FOUND !
425m-year-old penis found By Roger Highfield, Science Editor A 425-million-year-old fossilised penis, the oldest one yet recorded, has been discovered by scientists. It belongs to an ostrocod, a tiny animal like a water-flea which is still common today, even in suburban ponds. The fossilised Ostrocod The fossil was found preserved in volcanic ash at an undisclosed site in Herefordshire, which was once part of an ancient ocean. It shows a remarkable amount of soft tissue detail. Fossilised soft parts such as those reported in the journal Science by Prof David Siveter of the University of Leicester and colleagues in Oxford and Yale are extremely rare. The previous oldest specimen was 240 million years old. "It is very exciting," Prof Siveter said. "Here we have a beautiful animal preserved in all its glory, and with all its appendages." An ostracod is only 5mm long and its penis can be as much as a third of the size of its entire body. It has been named Colymbosathon ecplecticos, which means "astounding swimmer with a large penis". Although there are older fossils with possible evidence of male features, it is unequivocal in the case of the Herefordshire fossil. "It is definitely a male," he said. "That stout projection is a well-preserved penis." 
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