For most people, urine is a liquid substance that can be eliminated as quickly as possible. But for most of human history, urine was a powerful tool and an important resource. Its high ammonia content makes it an effective cleaning and bleaching agent if you let the substance go through the fermentation and evaporation process. It can also be used to make potassium nitrate known as saltpeter. It is a component of gunpowder.
Fermented urine is known as “lant”. It plays an important role for military leaders. There were also instances when the government demanded that people use their liquid waste to meet various needs. As you may know, male snakes have two penises. In fact, many lizards and other reptiles, especially squamates, the largest species of reptile, also have two sexes. The story behind the “hemipenis” of snakes can be explained from an evolutionary perspective.
Amazingly, snakes still retain the ability to make legs in their DNA, but the genetic switch responsible for initiating leg growth is deactivated. This is known as the “Sonic the Hedgehog” gene. These genes cause the development of organs. Snakes have the potential to produce legs during the first 24 hours of embryonic development before the switch is turned off.
The process of development of these legs is related to the sex of snakes. The double linga structure arose in the same place where legs could have evolved. Another study found that the embryonic structure responsible for genital development, the cloaca (which also serves as the anus), plays a similar role in lizards, snakes, birds and mammals.