Advertisement
Advertisement
Riders urinate during the "La Vuelta" cycling race. Photo: Reuters

It’s a pee coup: scientists find most animals take 21 seconds to urinate

Headed to the bathroom? If you think you might have to "pee like a racehorse," join the club - so does every other mammal.

NYT

Headed to the bathroom? If you think you might have to "pee like a racehorse," join the club - so does every other mammal.

US scientists who watched dozens of different mammals from rats to elephants relieve themselves found that most of them seem to urinate in the same time frame: around 21 seconds.

The findings, released by the , illuminate the fluid dynamics of urination.

"I was thinking, 'How could anything be worse right now?'" Hu said. "I thought, 'Well, maybe if I was changing an elephant's diaper it would really bad.'"

The researchers headed over to Zoo Atlanta to watch the animals do their business. They watched videos and compared the size of each species' bladder and urethra. While some larger animals had capacious bladders (an elephant can fill a kitchen rubbish bin), they all - cats goats and elephants, seem to empty in the same time: 21 seconds.

Hu says it's a very tight window. Even though an elephant's 18-litre bladder is nearly 3,600 times larger than a cat's, it doesn't take 3,600 times longer to empty. This means the elephant spews a massive, high-speed torrent.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Pee: the great equaliser
Post