Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Length my guess is an adaptation to climate the closer to equatorial Africa the longer the length the further away either north or south it decreases. My guess is there is some benefit it keeps bacteria further away from the bladder the closer to the equator the more bacteria because of more heat. You don't need a lot of length in northern China colder and windier climate. More likely for it to get frost bite and rot off.