BIRDS do it, bees do it ...
and so did a fish thought to have lived in Scotland 385 million years ago.
Scientists have traced the history of human vertebrate sexual intercourse to an ancient armoured fish with the improbable name of Microbrachius dicki. Microbrachius means "little arms" and refers to the genital limbs that locked male and female fish together when mating.
A study of Microbachius fossils revealed the first evidence of their primitive sexual organs. Lead scientist Professor John Long, from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, said: "Microbrachius means little arms but scientists have been baffled by what these bony paired arms were there for.
"We've solved this great mystery because they were there for mating, so the male could position his claspers. Now, we reveal they gave us the intimate act of sexual intercourse as well.
"Studies show our own evolution is rooted in placoderms, and many of the features we have - jaws, teeth and paired limbs - originated with this group of fishes."
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