Junk Off: Biologists from around the world tweet animal genitalia at one another

Scientists have been looking for the most bizarre and horrifying animal 'junk'

A three-year-old elephant named Lilly plays with the sand at a beach resort in Phuket. The number of Asian elephants has dwindled to just 40,000 (Getty Images)

Biologists from around the world are tweeting horrifying and stunning pictures of genitalia at one another.

The junk off began with tweets challenging scientists to tweet their most beautiful, terrifying or weird animal genitals. Some explained it as a way of showing young scientists the value of Twitter as a research tool and community — and others just delighted in the weirdness.

Either way, biologists and other scientists joined in the fun, or horror, quickly.

Some of the pictures didn’t look at all like genitals, and might have almost been beautiful, were it not for the phrase “tips break off inside female’s reproductive tract”.

There were some entries that didn’t necessarily show genitals, but — terrifying — reproductive organs.

Others were perhaps beyond words — and the animals attached to them looked remarkably pleased with themselves.

But the best junk might be no junk at all. David Steen, an assistant research professor, tweeted about the Great Siren — whose junk remains a mystery.