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As with any other bodily attribute, the length and girth of the penis can be highly variable between mammals of different species. In many mammals, the size of a flaccid penis is smaller than its erect size. In the realm of absolute size, the smallest vertebrate penis belongs to the common shrew (5 mm or 0.2 inches).[citation needed]

A bone called the baculum or os penis is present in most mammals but absent in humans, cattle and horses.

In mammals the penis is divided into three parts:

Roots (crura): these begin at the caudal border of the pelvic ischial arch.
Body: the part of the penis extending from the roots.
Glans: the free end of the penis.
The internal structures of the penis consist mainly of cavernous, erectile tissue, which is a collection of blood sinusoids separated by sheets of connective tissue (trabeculae). Some mammals have a lot of erectile tissue relative to connective tissue, for example horses. Because of this a horse's penis can enlarge more than a bull's penis. The urethra is on the ventral side of the body of the penis. As a general rule, a mammal's penis is proportional to its body size, but this varies greatly between species – even between closely related ones. For example, an adult gorilla's erect penis is about 4 cm (1.5 in) in length; an adult chimpanzee, significantly smaller (in body size) than a gorilla, has a penis size about double that of the gorilla. In comparison, the human penis is larger than that of any other primate, both in proportion to body size and in absolute terms.