
In zoology, a hermaphrodite is an organism of a species whose members possess both male and female sex organ during their lives. In many species, hermaphroditism is a normal part of the life-cycle. Generally, hermaphroditism occurs in the invertebrate, although it occurs in a fair number of fish, and to a lesser degree in other vertebrates. See below for use of the term in plants. ''Note:'' The term "hermaphrodite" has historically been used to describe people with ambiguous genitalia or biological sex. The broader term intersexual is often used and is preferred by many such individuals and medical professionals. == In animals == *Sequential hermaphrodite: The organism is born as one sex and later changes into the other sex. **Protandry: When the organism starts as a male, and changes sex to a female later in life. ''Example: The seabasses (Family Serranidae). These are a highly sought food fish complex made up of primarily groupers. Since even a small male can produce more than enough sperm to fertilize a huge number of ovum, while a female's egg output increases greatly with an increase in size, this strategy makes sense for an organism (fishes in general) where over 90% of the eggs laid will not result in a fish that reaches sexual maturity. It has been shown that fishing pressure actually is causing a change in when the switch from male to female occurs, since fishermen naturally prefer to catch the larger fishes. The populations are generally changing sex at a smaller size, due to artificial selection.'' **Protogyny: When the organism starts as a female, and changes sex to a male later in life. ''Example: Wrasses (Family Labridae) are reef fishes that tend to have three distinct sexual types. Small females, immature males and supermales. The small females and the immature males have identical colorations. The supermale is usually brightly colored, and there is only one in a given area of the reef. This supermale dominates the other wrasses of the species, having the choice of females to mate with. When the supermale dies, the largest wrasse in the area, male ''or'' female, becomes the new supermale.'' *Simultaneous hermaphrodite: The organism has both male and female sexual organs at the same time as an adult. Usually, self-fertilization does not occur. Also called synchronous hermaphrodites. ''Examples: Earthworms. Hamlet (fish)s (Family Haemulidae) are a type of fish that are curious for many reasons, including that they seem to be evolving into different species quite rapidly. Unlike other fishes, hamlets 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 several nights.'' Gonadal dysgenesis, a type of intersexuality ''formerly'' known as "True Hermaphroditism", occurs in about one percent of mammals (including humans), but it is extremely rare for both sets of sexual organs to be functional, usually neither set is functional. In many cases, these manifestations are altered, sometimes only cosmetically, to resemble standard male or female anatomy shortly after birth. == In plants == Hermaphrodite is used in botany to describe a flower that has both stamen (male, pollen-producing) and carpel (female, seed-producing) parts. Other terms for this condition are bisexual and perfect. Hermaphrodism in plants is more complex than in animals because plants can have hermaphroditic flowers as described, or unisexual flowers with both male and female types developing on the same individual—a closer analogy to animal hermaphrodism. However, this latter condition constitutes Plant sexuality in plants, and is especially common to the Pinophyta, while occurring in only about 7% of angiosperm species (Molnar, 2004). == Etymology == The term "hermaphrodite" derives from Hermaphroditus, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite in Greek mythology, who was fused with a nymph, resulting in one being possessing physical traits of both sexes. Thus Hermaphroditus was, by the modern terminology, a simultaneous hermaphrodite. The mythological figure of Tiresias, who figures in the Oedipus the King as well as the Odyssey, was a sequential hermaphrodite, having been changed from a man to a woman and back by the gods. == Reference == * Molnar, Sebastian. 2004. [http://www.geocities.com/we_evolve/Plants/breeding_sys.html Plant Reproductive Systems], internet version posted February 17, 2004. Intersexual
The article claims that "gonadal dysgenesis" occurs in "about 1 percent of mammals (including humans)". Should this actually read "about 1 percent of mammal species"? It's difficult to believe that 1% of humans are true hermaphrodites. ==Furries== Come on, now... what value do 'furries' have in an article on hermaphroditism? ==Cleanup Tag== What is the rationale for this tag? -- User:RyanFreisling User talk:RyanFreisling 20:47, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC) The PC throwaway line is a riot... "The term intersexual to describe these people is now preferred, and the term "hermaphrodite" is deprecated, since hermaphrodism is not a typical part of the human life cycle." And being "intersexual" is? Who prefers this term anyway. I have not seen it in the scientific literature. I'm of a mind to yank this line. :I would yank it. And anyway, the 'term' Hermaphrodite is still valid, when used to describe the child of Hermes and Aphrodite, to say nothing of the biological case. -- User:RyanFreisling User talk:RyanFreisling 21:18, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC) ::While I don't care about inclusion of the term either way, stating that it is not a valid term is entirely wrong. Search PubMed with the term 'intersexual' and restrict to human papers and you get 140 returns. For example: "Ethical dilemmas in retrospective studies on genital surgery in the treatment of intersexual infants." Camb Q Healthc Ethics. 2004 Fall;13(4):394-403. Or this NEJM review of a book on the ethics of treatment and understanding intersex patients (from 2000.) http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/342/19/1457 ::Moreover, 'intersexual' is an adjectival form of intersex, which is used almost exclusively in my experience to describe kids with ambiguous genitalia (as a general group... obviously its more common to say a girl with CAH etc.) Search Pubmed for intersex OR intersexual OR intersexed with the limit 'human' and you get almost 600 returns. ::So it is far from a PC term, but rather simply the term that is ''preferred'' now by clinicians ''as well as intersexed people''. This is especially the case since most intersex people are not in fact true hermaphrodites – i.e. individuals with both ovarian and testicular tissue (or ovotestis.) User:NickGorton :::I don't think anyone is arguing 'intersexual' isn't a word, the focus of this article is 'hermaphrodite'. -- User:RyanFreisling User talk:RyanFreisling 01:35, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC) ::::I was referring to the original quote, not your comment, Ryan - :::::'' "The PC throwaway line is a riot... "The term intersexual to describe these people is now preferred, and the term "hermaphrodite" is deprecated, since hermaphrodism is not a typical part of the human life cycle." And being "intersexual" is? Who prefers this term anyway. I have not seen it in the scientific literature. I'm of a mind to yank this line.'' ::::This comment implies (though I will admit doesn't directly state... with that 'well I haven't seen it' line) that intersexual is not used as a term in the medical/scientific literature. And I think the real issue is the confusion between intersexed people and hermaphrodites. While intersexuality is relatively common (for example, just the most common single illness, non-classical CAH is about 1/60-70 XX births.) Taken as a whole and in the broadest sense, all of the conditions regarded as intersexual are about 1/50-100 births. However, true human hermaphrodism is ''extremely'' rare. The problem is that people confuse the two ''all the time''. And if you have an article discussing hermaphrodism that mentions human hermaphrodites, I think it bears stressing the fact that hermaphrodites are a ''minute'' and particular sub-category of much more common group of intersexed people. ::::And I think the reason this is important is that people who are intersexed no more like being called hermaphrodites than people with Downs' syndrome like the term 'mongoloid.' And while the original discussant described it as PC-run-amok, I see it as simply being respectful. ''Not that Dr Downs was a prize either.'' He originally described children with trisomy 21 as being a 'devolution' of the superior 'Caucasian race' to the inferior 'Mongol race.' But then I imagine I will be accused of PC-run-amok if I prefer to refer to my niece's illness as trisomy 21 rather than use an eponym that honors a dead racist English Pediatrician. ;) User:NickGorton == "True" Hermaphrodites == I know it is extremely rare, but if a human has fully functioning sexual organs of both genders, could they self-impregnate? Talk about a hypothetical situation... User:Xyzzyva 01:06, Jun 21, 2005 (UTC)
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Words begining with Hermaphrodite:
Hermaphrodite
Hermaphrodite
Hermaphrodites
Hermaphrodite_brig
Hermaphrodite
In zoology, a hermaphrodite is an organism of a species whose members possess both male and female sex organ during their lives. In many species, hermaphroditism is a normal part of the life-cycle. Generally, hermaphroditism occurs in the invertebrate, although it occurs in a fair number of fish, and to a lesser degree in other vertebrates. See below for use of the term in plants. ''Note:'' The term "hermaphrodite" has historically been used to describe people with ambiguous genitalia or biological sex. The broader term intersexual is often used and is preferred by many such individuals and medical professionals. == In animals == *Sequential hermaphrodite: The organism is born as one sex and later changes into the other sex. **Protandry: When the organism starts as a male, and changes sex to a female later in life. ''Example: The seabasses (Family Serranidae). These are a highly sought food fish complex made up of primarily groupers. Since even a small male can produce more than enough sperm to fertilize a huge number of ovum, while a female's egg output increases greatly with an increase in size, this strategy makes sense for an organism (fishes in general) where over 90% of the eggs laid will not result in a fish that reaches sexual maturity. It has been shown that fishing pressure actually is causing a change in when the switch from male to female occurs, since fishermen naturally prefer to catch the larger fishes. The populations are generally changing sex at a smaller size, due to artificial selection.'' **Protogyny: When the organism starts as a female, and changes sex to a male later in life. ''Example: Wrasses (Family Labridae) are reef fishes that tend to have three distinct sexual types. Small females, immature males and supermales. The small females and the immature males have identical colorations. The supermale is usually brightly colored, and there is only one in a given area of the reef. This supermale dominates the other wrasses of the species, having the choice of females to mate with. When the supermale dies, the largest wrasse in the area, male ''or'' female, becomes the new supermale.'' *Simultaneous hermaphrodite: The organism has both male and female sexual organs at the same time as an adult. Usually, self-fertilization does not occur. Also called synchronous hermaphrodites. ''Examples: Earthworms. Hamlet (fish)s (Family Haemulidae) are a type of fish that are curious for many reasons, including that they seem to be evolving into different species quite rapidly. Unlike other fishes, hamlets 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 several nights.'' Gonadal dysgenesis, a type of intersexuality ''formerly'' known as "True Hermaphroditism", occurs in about one percent of mammals (including humans), but it is extremely rare for both sets of sexual organs to be functional, usually neither set is functional. In many cases, these manifestations are altered, sometimes only cosmetically, to resemble standard male or female anatomy shortly after birth. == In plants == Hermaphrodite is used in botany to describe a flower that has both stamen (male, pollen-producing) and carpel (female, seed-producing) parts. Other terms for this condition are bisexual and perfect. Hermaphrodism in plants is more complex than in animals because plants can have hermaphroditic flowers as described, or unisexual flowers with both male and female types developing on the same individual—a closer analogy to animal hermaphrodism. However, this latter condition constitutes Plant sexuality in plants, and is especially common to the Pinophyta, while occurring in only about 7% of angiosperm species (Molnar, 2004). == Etymology == The term "hermaphrodite" derives from Hermaphroditus, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite in Greek mythology, who was fused with a nymph, resulting in one being possessing physical traits of both sexes. Thus Hermaphroditus was, by the modern terminology, a simultaneous hermaphrodite. The mythological figure of Tiresias, who figures in the Oedipus the King as well as the Odyssey, was a sequential hermaphrodite, having been changed from a man to a woman and back by the gods. == Reference == * Molnar, Sebastian. 2004. [http://www.geocities.com/we_evolve/Plants/breeding_sys.html Plant Reproductive Systems], internet version posted February 17, 2004. Intersexual
Hermaphrodite
The article claims that "gonadal dysgenesis" occurs in "about 1 percent of mammals (including humans)". Should this actually read "about 1 percent of mammal species"? It's difficult to believe that 1% of humans are true hermaphrodites. ==Furries== Come on, now... what value do 'furries' have in an article on hermaphroditism? ==Cleanup Tag== What is the rationale for this tag? -- User:RyanFreisling User talk:RyanFreisling 20:47, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC) The PC throwaway line is a riot... "The term intersexual to describe these people is now preferred, and the term "hermaphrodite" is deprecated, since hermaphrodism is not a typical part of the human life cycle." And being "intersexual" is? Who prefers this term anyway. I have not seen it in the scientific literature. I'm of a mind to yank this line. :I would yank it. And anyway, the 'term' Hermaphrodite is still valid, when used to describe the child of Hermes and Aphrodite, to say nothing of the biological case. -- User:RyanFreisling User talk:RyanFreisling 21:18, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC) ::While I don't care about inclusion of the term either way, stating that it is not a valid term is entirely wrong. Search PubMed with the term 'intersexual' and restrict to human papers and you get 140 returns. For example: "Ethical dilemmas in retrospective studies on genital surgery in the treatment of intersexual infants." Camb Q Healthc Ethics. 2004 Fall;13(4):394-403. Or this NEJM review of a book on the ethics of treatment and understanding intersex patients (from 2000.) http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/342/19/1457 ::Moreover, 'intersexual' is an adjectival form of intersex, which is used almost exclusively in my experience to describe kids with ambiguous genitalia (as a general group... obviously its more common to say a girl with CAH etc.) Search Pubmed for intersex OR intersexual OR intersexed with the limit 'human' and you get almost 600 returns. ::So it is far from a PC term, but rather simply the term that is ''preferred'' now by clinicians ''as well as intersexed people''. This is especially the case since most intersex people are not in fact true hermaphrodites – i.e. individuals with both ovarian and testicular tissue (or ovotestis.) User:NickGorton :::I don't think anyone is arguing 'intersexual' isn't a word, the focus of this article is 'hermaphrodite'. -- User:RyanFreisling User talk:RyanFreisling 01:35, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC) ::::I was referring to the original quote, not your comment, Ryan - :::::'' "The PC throwaway line is a riot... "The term intersexual to describe these people is now preferred, and the term "hermaphrodite" is deprecated, since hermaphrodism is not a typical part of the human life cycle." And being "intersexual" is? Who prefers this term anyway. I have not seen it in the scientific literature. I'm of a mind to yank this line.'' ::::This comment implies (though I will admit doesn't directly state... with that 'well I haven't seen it' line) that intersexual is not used as a term in the medical/scientific literature. And I think the real issue is the confusion between intersexed people and hermaphrodites. While intersexuality is relatively common (for example, just the most common single illness, non-classical CAH is about 1/60-70 XX births.) Taken as a whole and in the broadest sense, all of the conditions regarded as intersexual are about 1/50-100 births. However, true human hermaphrodism is ''extremely'' rare. The problem is that people confuse the two ''all the time''. And if you have an article discussing hermaphrodism that mentions human hermaphrodites, I think it bears stressing the fact that hermaphrodites are a ''minute'' and particular sub-category of much more common group of intersexed people. ::::And I think the reason this is important is that people who are intersexed no more like being called hermaphrodites than people with Downs' syndrome like the term 'mongoloid.' And while the original discussant described it as PC-run-amok, I see it as simply being respectful. ''Not that Dr Downs was a prize either.'' He originally described children with trisomy 21 as being a 'devolution' of the superior 'Caucasian race' to the inferior 'Mongol race.' But then I imagine I will be accused of PC-run-amok if I prefer to refer to my niece's illness as trisomy 21 rather than use an eponym that honors a dead racist English Pediatrician. ;) User:NickGorton == "True" Hermaphrodites == I know it is extremely rare, but if a human has fully functioning sexual organs of both genders, could they self-impregnate? Talk about a hypothetical situation... User:Xyzzyva 01:06, Jun 21, 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
H
HA | HB | HC | HD | HE | HF | HG | HI | HJ | HK | HL | HM | HN | HO | HP | HR | HS | HT | HU | HW | HX | HY | HZ |Words begining with Hermaphrodite:
Hermaphrodite
Hermaphrodite
Hermaphrodites
Hermaphrodite_brig
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