Friday, May 30, 2014

Sequential hermaphroditism - (the individual changes sex at some point in their life)



Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is a type of hermaphroditism that occurs in many fish, gastropoda and plants. Sequential hermaphroditism occurs when the individual changes sex at some point in their life. They can change from a male to female (protandry), or from female to male (protogyny)[1] or from female to hermaphrodite (protogynous hermaphroditism). Those that change gonadal sex can have both female and male germ cells in the gonads or can change from one complete gonadal type to the other during their last life stage.[2] Individual flowers are also called sequentially hermaphrodite, although the plant as a whole may have functionally male and functionally female flowers open at the same time.


In the film Jurassic Park, dinosaurs are cloned for a theme park and are kept from breeding because each one is cloned to be a female. The genetic coding of the dinosaur DNA is completed with the DNA of a frog, and as a result, the dinosaurs change their gender in order to breed, just as a West African bullfrog would in a single-sex environment.

Thanks to:
Wiki