Hermaphrodite: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 17:28, 8 March 2002

An individual or species that contains both male and female sexual organs at some point during their lives. Generally, hermaphroditism occurs in the invertebrates, although it occurs in a fair number of fishes, and to a lesser degree in the higher organisms. This term includes:

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.
- Protogyny: When the organism starts as a female, and changes sex to a male later in life.
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 Simultaneous hermaphrodite.