*
May 22, 2021 7:42 PM Subscribe
The Body’s Most Embarrassing Organ Is an Evolutionary Marvel — And yet we have very little idea where anuses come from., The Atlantic, Katherine J. Wu, 5/18/2021 [alternate archive link]. “...The appearance of the anus was momentous in animal evolution, turning a one-hole digestive sac into an open-ended tunnel. Creatures with an anus could physically segregate the acts of eating and defecating, reducing the risk of sullying a snack with scat; they no longer had to finish processing one meal before ingesting another, allowing their tubelike body to harvest more energy and balloon in size. Nowadays, anuses take many forms...” Don’t miss the ‘death farts’ reference. Although Joseph Pujol’s unique musical talent is not mentioned, Wikipedia has a passable article.
Christ, what an article.
(BTW, the alternate link is wrong. Here's an archive.org version.)
posted by tonycpsu at 8:00 PM on May 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
(BTW, the alternate link is wrong. Here's an archive.org version.)
posted by tonycpsu at 8:00 PM on May 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
Mod note: Fixed up the archive link, pass it on.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:32 PM on May 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:32 PM on May 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
Glad to see that things came out OK in the end.
also glad to revisit the third grade
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:21 PM on May 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
also glad to revisit the third grade
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:21 PM on May 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
Although Joseph Pujol’s unique musical talent is not mentioned, Wikipedia has a passable article.
I suspect that because of his singular talents that even well before Wikipedia, people were interested in looking up Joseph Pujol.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:25 PM on May 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
I suspect that because of his singular talents that even well before Wikipedia, people were interested in looking up Joseph Pujol.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:25 PM on May 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
Metafilter: a one-hole digestive sac
posted by slater at 9:34 PM on May 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by slater at 9:34 PM on May 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
Fine cat butt picture heading the article. My cat tells me often that cats have the best butts.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:18 PM on May 22, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:18 PM on May 22, 2021 [5 favorites]
And here I was worried we'd miss Poop Month this year. That's a load off my...mind.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:42 PM on May 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:42 PM on May 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
...even well before Wikipedia, people were interested in looking up Joseph Pujol.
Pre-Internet, one could read about him in Ricky Jay’s excellent book Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women.
posted by cenoxo at 10:46 PM on May 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
Pre-Internet, one could read about him in Ricky Jay’s excellent book Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women.
posted by cenoxo at 10:46 PM on May 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
anuses are also shrouded in scientific intrigue, and a fair bit of squabblingA dab of zinc cream will clear that right up.
posted by flabdablet at 11:10 PM on May 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
As far as exit holes go, ours are standard-issue, capable of little more than extruding waste from the gut, with no frills to speak ofIdeally, sure.
posted by flabdablet at 11:14 PM on May 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
The anus, that hole of repute,
Source of muscular musical toot.
We evolved from a sac,
And who would look back?
The bunghole deserves our salute.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 11:15 PM on May 22, 2021 [26 favorites]
Source of muscular musical toot.
We evolved from a sac,
And who would look back?
The bunghole deserves our salute.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 11:15 PM on May 22, 2021 [26 favorites]
And yet we won't give it its due;
It's honoured by only a few.
For despite having it,
We remain full of shit
And still talk a great deal of it too.
posted by flabdablet at 11:27 PM on May 22, 2021 [16 favorites]
It's honoured by only a few.
For despite having it,
We remain full of shit
And still talk a great deal of it too.
posted by flabdablet at 11:27 PM on May 22, 2021 [16 favorites]
On consideration, if I had to name the organ with which I've had the most fraught relationship in life to date I'd be torn between my brain and my bumhole.
I'm not quite sure what I expect you to do with this information, dear reader.
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 11:36 PM on May 22, 2021 [6 favorites]
I'm not quite sure what I expect you to do with this information, dear reader.
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 11:36 PM on May 22, 2021 [6 favorites]
What I'm going to do with it is hope for your sake that you never have to name that organ, because that sounds like a nasty wound.
posted by flabdablet at 11:39 PM on May 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 11:39 PM on May 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
Poster on Evolution's office wall:
You don't have to b̶e̶ ̶ have an asshole to work here, but it helps!
posted by bartleby at 11:41 PM on May 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
You don't have to b̶e̶ ̶ have an asshole to work here, but it helps!
posted by bartleby at 11:41 PM on May 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
Plus, bonus points for Vonnegut reference in the post title, OP
posted by bartleby at 11:42 PM on May 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by bartleby at 11:42 PM on May 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
Main link was a good read, cheers for posting cenoxo!
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 11:44 PM on May 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
Young dragonflies suck water into theirs, then spew it out to propel themselves forward.Also, I think I've figured out how Superman can fly
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 11:44 PM on May 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
On consideration, if I had to name the organ with which I've had the most fraught relationship...
Considering the comments in the recent MeFi thread on “the saddest way you’ve injured yourself”, the front-runner appears to be the lower back.
posted by darkstar at 12:29 AM on May 23, 2021 [3 favorites]
Considering the comments in the recent MeFi thread on “the saddest way you’ve injured yourself”, the front-runner appears to be the lower back.
posted by darkstar at 12:29 AM on May 23, 2021 [3 favorites]
You know, with all the steath product placements running rampant across all media these days, I'd like to get MeFi management's assurance that this FPP is absolutely not a surrepticious butt plug.
posted by zaixfeep at 1:04 AM on May 23, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by zaixfeep at 1:04 AM on May 23, 2021 [5 favorites]
Isn’t the body’s most embarrassing organ the appendix? All it seems to do is occasionally malfunction and try to kill us.
posted by Gymnopedist at 1:52 AM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Gymnopedist at 1:52 AM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
We're doing this already? I thought the plan was to wait until "Anal August"; my FPPs are only in draft mode :(
posted by Wordshore at 2:15 AM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Wordshore at 2:15 AM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
Anal August was canceled in favor of May-nus. Didn’t you get the memo?
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:37 AM on May 23, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:37 AM on May 23, 2021 [7 favorites]
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of Maynus.
posted by adept256 at 2:37 AM on May 23, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by adept256 at 2:37 AM on May 23, 2021 [6 favorites]
Poo-ly has also been cancelled
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:39 AM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:39 AM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
bonus points for Vonnegut reference in the post title
Any Kurt Vonnegut reference was wholly unintentional: I just wanted to avoid a long-winded title.
posted by cenoxo at 6:33 AM on May 23, 2021 [3 favorites]
Any Kurt Vonnegut reference was wholly unintentional: I just wanted to avoid a long-winded title.
posted by cenoxo at 6:33 AM on May 23, 2021 [3 favorites]
Gymnopedist: Isn’t the body’s most embarrassing organ the appendix? All it seems to do is occasionally malfunction and try to kill us.
There's a hypothesis that the appendix acts as a reservoir of beneficial bacteria to restock the gut after an infection, though I'm not sure if anyone has proven that definitively yet.
posted by clawsoon at 6:47 AM on May 23, 2021
There's a hypothesis that the appendix acts as a reservoir of beneficial bacteria to restock the gut after an infection, though I'm not sure if anyone has proven that definitively yet.
posted by clawsoon at 6:47 AM on May 23, 2021
we have very little idea where anuses come from
Oh, but it's alimentary, my dear Watson.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:56 AM on May 23, 2021 [14 favorites]
Oh, but it's alimentary, my dear Watson.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:56 AM on May 23, 2021 [14 favorites]
we have very little idea where anuses come from
They snuck up on us... from behind.
posted by chavenet at 7:08 AM on May 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
They snuck up on us... from behind.
posted by chavenet at 7:08 AM on May 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
My BIL forwarded this to me. I chided him for thinking of me; when he saw an article on A**holes!
BTAIM, a good complement to this article; if it piques your curiosity; is GULP by Mary Roach. Along with being informative; it is funny as hell. It has given me the inspiration to do amateur standup consisting entirely of scientific fart jokes.
posted by indianbadger1 at 7:35 AM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
BTAIM, a good complement to this article; if it piques your curiosity; is GULP by Mary Roach. Along with being informative; it is funny as hell. It has given me the inspiration to do amateur standup consisting entirely of scientific fart jokes.
posted by indianbadger1 at 7:35 AM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
There's a hypothesis that the appendix acts as a reservoir of beneficial bacteria to restock the gut after an infection, though I'm not sure if anyone has proven that definitively yet.
I see it more as a right-wing element in intestinal politics, dedicated to remaining organized in a demonstrably detrimental and obsolete fashion at any cost up to and including agony and death for itself and its host while exerting a completely disproportionate degree of influence on bodily affairs.
Its inherent structural inability to go with the flow leaves it susceptible to becoming twisted and cut off from the mainstream while completely full of shit, and when this happens, removing it altogether does far more good than harm.
posted by flabdablet at 7:51 AM on May 23, 2021 [6 favorites]
I see it more as a right-wing element in intestinal politics, dedicated to remaining organized in a demonstrably detrimental and obsolete fashion at any cost up to and including agony and death for itself and its host while exerting a completely disproportionate degree of influence on bodily affairs.
Its inherent structural inability to go with the flow leaves it susceptible to becoming twisted and cut off from the mainstream while completely full of shit, and when this happens, removing it altogether does far more good than harm.
posted by flabdablet at 7:51 AM on May 23, 2021 [6 favorites]
Along with being informative; it is funny as hell.
Pretty much the description of any Mary Roach book.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 8:11 AM on May 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
Pretty much the description of any Mary Roach book.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 8:11 AM on May 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
"Those anuses were haunting me in my sleep!" (a musical hallucination from Bob's Burgers S01E08 "Art Crawl")
posted by What is E. T. short for? at 8:18 AM on May 23, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by What is E. T. short for? at 8:18 AM on May 23, 2021 [3 favorites]
There was one man whose anus was the next stage of human evolution. Sadly, he has left us.
posted by delfin at 8:45 AM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by delfin at 8:45 AM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
we have very little idea where anuses come from
Most anuses come from gentle, but firm, stimu- what?
posted by spaceman_spiff at 9:29 AM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
Most anuses come from gentle, but firm, stimu- what?
posted by spaceman_spiff at 9:29 AM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
This is so much nonsense.
The most embarrassing organ on any given human body is usually their tongue, particularly when used for speaking. But, yes, the anus is indeed usually the second most embarrassing organ on a human.
It's not a coincidence that they fit together so well.
posted by loquacious at 11:34 AM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
The most embarrassing organ on any given human body is usually their tongue, particularly when used for speaking. But, yes, the anus is indeed usually the second most embarrassing organ on a human.
It's not a coincidence that they fit together so well.
posted by loquacious at 11:34 AM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
If unflanged, perhaps more so than intended.
posted by flabdablet at 12:10 PM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 12:10 PM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
even well before Wikipedia, people were interested in looking up Joseph Pujol.
Really surprised that I got this one past everyone.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:18 PM on May 23, 2021 [5 favorites]
Really surprised that I got this one past everyone.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:18 PM on May 23, 2021 [5 favorites]
You might have thought you managed to slip it in unawares, but some of us were just quietly enjoying it too.
posted by flabdablet at 12:47 PM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 12:47 PM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
"It's in him and it's got to come out..."
--- John Lee Hooker, "Boogie Chillun'"
posted by klanawa at 3:29 PM on May 23, 2021
--- John Lee Hooker, "Boogie Chillun'"
posted by klanawa at 3:29 PM on May 23, 2021
Some of the most intriguing (and NSFW) back ends are all-purpose anus analogues called cloacae, which merge the terminal parts of the digestive, urinary, and reproductive tracts into a single opening—essentially an evacuation foyer for outbound feces, urine, eggs, and sperm. Cloacae are fixtures among birds, reptiles, and amphibians, and although they tend to get a bad rap, their internal architecture is actually quite sophisticated, Patricia Brennan, a cloaca expert at Mount Holyoke College, in Massachusetts, told me. They can also be quite convenient: When female birds mate with unsatisfactory males, they can simply eject the subpar sperm and begin the process anew.
I'm like a bird, I only fly away
I don't know where my soul is
I don't know where my home is
And baby all I need for you to know is
I'm like a bird, right down to the cloacae
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:17 PM on May 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
I'm like a bird, I only fly away
I don't know where my soul is
I don't know where my home is
And baby all I need for you to know is
I'm like a bird, right down to the cloacae
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:17 PM on May 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
I'm just impressed that the ads I got on this page were for rings "made differently".
posted by nickzoic at 6:47 PM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by nickzoic at 6:47 PM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
Later he opened an air biscuit factory in Toulon.
posted by mcrandello at 7:15 PM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by mcrandello at 7:15 PM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
Some of the most intriguing (and NSFW) back ends are all-purpose anus analogues called cloacae,
So anybody know what the NSFW tag is for (it's in the original first link) is for? Is there some sexy cloacae website out there? I'm pretty sure my work just monitors for naked people, not birds and reptiles....
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:25 PM on May 24, 2021
So anybody know what the NSFW tag is for (it's in the original first link) is for? Is there some sexy cloacae website out there? I'm pretty sure my work just monitors for naked people, not birds and reptiles....
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:25 PM on May 24, 2021
The Quizzically Intriguing History of the Anus - "It is a part of our anatomy rarely discussed or ever brought up at dinner parties, let alone raised in conversation on the radio. Suzanne Hill with Scientist and Writer for The Atlantic Katherine J. Wu had an intriguing and thought-provoking discussion on the history of the anus. Why do we all have one? Why would one need teeth, and how has it evolved with other species over millennia?"*
also btw...
24,000-year-old organisms found frozen in Siberia can still reproduce - "Multicellular invertebrates that are solely female, bdelloid rotifers are already renowned for their resistance to radiation and ability to withstand rather inhospitable environments: drying, starvation and low oxygen. They've also existed for at least 35m years – and can be found today in freshwater lakes, ponds, streams and moist terrestrial habitats such as moss, lichen, tree bark and soil. These tough little critters – which have a complete digestive tract that includes a mouth and an anus – are able to survive hostile environments by halting all activity and almost entirely arresting their metabolism."*
posted by kliuless at 10:43 PM on June 7, 2021
also btw...
24,000-year-old organisms found frozen in Siberia can still reproduce - "Multicellular invertebrates that are solely female, bdelloid rotifers are already renowned for their resistance to radiation and ability to withstand rather inhospitable environments: drying, starvation and low oxygen. They've also existed for at least 35m years – and can be found today in freshwater lakes, ponds, streams and moist terrestrial habitats such as moss, lichen, tree bark and soil. These tough little critters – which have a complete digestive tract that includes a mouth and an anus – are able to survive hostile environments by halting all activity and almost entirely arresting their metabolism."*
posted by kliuless at 10:43 PM on June 7, 2021
« Older And now, here's Kermit the Frog | 52 perfect comfort films – to watch again and... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
(I see what you did there.)
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:59 PM on May 22, 2021 [7 favorites]