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In the spirit of gender equality, and to fight gonochoristic chauvinism, I think we should also salute those many, many species of organisms which are hermaphrodites, both sequential and simultaneous.

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Sequential hermaphroditism is common in fish (particularly teleost fish), many gastropods, and most flowering plants....

Sequential hermaphrodites fall into two broad categories:

* Protandry: Where an organism is born as a male, and then changes sex to a female....

* Protogyny: Where the organism starts as a female, and then changes sex to a male....

* Snails are perhaps the most classic of simultaneous hermaphrodite, and the most widespread of terrestrial animals possessing this sexual polymorphism....

* Hamlets, unlike other fish, seem quite at ease mating in front of divers, allowing observations in the wild to occur readily. They do not practice self-fertilization, but when they find a mate, the pair takes turns between which one acts as the male and which acts as the female through multiple matings, usually over the course of several nights.

* Earthworms are another example of a simultaneous hermaphrodite. Although they possess ovaries and testes, they have a protective mechanism against self fertilization and can only function as a single sex at one time....

* Banana slugs are one more simultaneous hermaphrodite example. Mating with a partner is most desirable, as the genetic material of the offspring is varied, but if mating with a partner is not possible, self-fertilization is practised.... It is possible for banana slugs, while mating, to become stuck together. If a substantial amount of wiggling fails to separate them, the male organ will be bitten off (with the slug's radula). If a banana slug has lost its male sexual organ, it can still self-fertilize, making its hermaphroditic quality an invaluable adaptation.




Last edited by numan; 06/08/09 04:01 PM.