1647 Animal Sex

You gotta wonder why science researchers study some things in the first place. Animal sex is one of those interesting avenues of research.
For instance, scientists have determined that the earliest incidence of sexual reproduction was 565 million years ago. They found this out from fossils that appear to be clustered together like today's sexually reproducing corals, barnacles, and sponges.
Earliest sex evidence from a cluster fossil.
One of which turns out to be a sponge. I would think that would be the earliest evidence of a divorce.
And apparently animal marriage, at least for procreation purposes, need not be between a man and a woman. The single-celled organism Tetra-hymena thermophila, found in pond water, has seven different sexes. It's possible for reproduction to result from any of 21 different couplings. Wow. Bob, Carol, Ted, Alice, Herman, Bill, and Eunice are going to need a big bed in the old pond.
Just so you know, scientists have also determined that seven's not the record. The slime mold Physarum polycephalum exists in 7 hundred mating types. Slime mold's the stuff you get in your refrigerator.
And you wondered why it grew so quickly.
Ewww.
And lastly, on the subject of masculinity. Humans like to obsess about the size and quality of a man's reproductive equipment. Lots of research money is spent developing concoctions to prolong and increase aspects of same to make even more money.
The lowly barnacle humbles us all.
The ratio of a barnacle's phallus to the rest of its body is 8:1. Eight times the size of its body. Barnacles in turbulent waters have slightly shorter and stouter organs. As one scientist put it, "a trade off between length and maneuverability."
Oh yeah, at 8 to 1, you can't undervalue that maneuverability.
Welcome to the cluster.
America, ya gotta love it.