A MEDICAL student research team in the United Kingdom has discovered a man with three penises, the second case ever recorded of the rare birth defect, according to Daily Mail.

The team from the University of Birmingham Medical School made the discovery as they dissected the body of a 78-year-old man whose body was donated to science upon his death.

The team said the man might have gone his entire life without realising the rare condition though it could have caused him some issues or dysfunctions.

“These penile morphological abnormalities may not have been identified during his life. However, he may have lived with functional deficits due to the abnormal anatomy of the region, which may include urinary tract infections, erectile dysfunction or fertility issues,” said the team.

Upon closer examination, the researchers discovered that he had two tiny penises inside his scrotal sac, one of which was attached to the same urethra as the big penis.

“Without dissection, this anatomical variation would have remained undiscovered, suggesting the prevalence of polyphallia may be greater than expected.

“Despite normal appearance of external genitalia on examination, the dissection of a 78-year-old white male revealed a remarkable anatomical variation: two small supernumerary penises,” the researchers said.

This rare case, known as “triphallia” or triple penis has only been reported once with this one being the latest and second recovery, according to the Journal of Medical Case.

In 2020, the first case of triphallia was discovered in a newborn baby. It was the first time the internal anatomy of the birth defect was described in detail through post-mortem dissection.

The male genital development starts between four and seven weeks of pregnancy with researchers believing that the abnormal penis shaft formation may result from genetic disorders impacting androgen receptor expression.

Oftentimes, if the secondary penis does not fully develop, the urethra, which normally grows in it, may divert to the major penis leading to an increased risk of infection, sexual dysfunction, or problems with conception that might result from this excessive growth.