Protandric Hermaphrodite
A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many taxonomic groups of animals, primarily invertebrates, are hermaphrodites, capable of producing viable gametes of both sexes. In the great majority of tunicates, mollusks, and earthworms, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which either partner can act as the female or male. Hermaphroditism is also found in some fish species, but is rare in other vertebrate groups. Most hermaphroditic species exhibit some degree of self-fertilization. The distribution of self-fertilization rates among animals is similar to that of plants, suggesting that similar pressures are operating to direct the evolution of selfing in animals and plants. A rough estimate of the number of hermaphroditic animal species is 65, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Snails Mating
A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have a coiled shell that is large enough for the animal to retract completely into. When the word "snail" is used in this most general sense, it includes not just land snails but also numerous species of sea snails and freshwater snails. Gastropods that naturally lack a shell, or have only an internal shell, are mostly called ''slugs'', and land snails that have only a very small shell (that they cannot retract into) are often called ''semi-slugs''. Snails have considerable human relevance, including as food items, as pests, and as vectors of disease, and their shells are used as decorative objects and are incorporated into jewellery. The snail has also had some cultural significance, tending to be associated with lethargy. The snail has also been ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Flowering Plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit. The group was formerly called Magnoliophyta. Angiosperms are by far the most diverse group of Embryophyte, land plants with 64 Order (biology), orders, 416 Family (biology), families, approximately 13,000 known Genus, genera and 300,000 known species. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody Plant stem, stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of broad-leaved trees, shrubs and vines, and most aquatic plants. Angiosperms are distinguished from the other major seed plant clade, the gymnosperms, by having flowers, xylem consisting of vessel elements instead of tracheids, endosperm within their seeds, and fruits that completely envelop the seeds. The ancestors of flowering plants diverged from the commo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Greek Mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancient Greek religion's view of the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, nature of the world; the lives and activities of List of Greek deities, deities, Greek hero cult, heroes, and List of Greek mythological creatures, mythological creatures; and the origins and significance of the ancient Greeks' cult (religious practice), cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars study the myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of ancient Greece, and to better understand the nature of mythmaking itself. The Greek myths were initially propagated in an oral tradition, oral-poetic tradition most likely by Minoan civilization, Minoan and Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean singers starting in the 18th century&n ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aphrodite
Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. Aphrodite's major symbols include seashells, Myrtle (common), myrtles, roses, doves, sparrows, and swans. The cult of Aphrodite was largely derived from that of the Ancient Canaanite religion, Phoenician goddess Astarte, a cognate of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar, whose cult was based on the Sumerian religion, Sumerian cult of Inanna. Aphrodite's main cult centers were Kythira, Cythera, Cyprus, Corinth, and Athens. Her main festival was the Aphrodisia, which was celebrated annually in midsummer. In Laconia, Aphrodite was worshipped as a warrior goddess. She was also the patron goddess of Prostitution in ancient Greece, prostitutes, an association which led early scholars to propose the concept of sacred prostitution in Greco-Rom ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hermes
Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quickly and freely between the worlds of the mortal and the divine aided by his winged sandals. Hermes plays the role of the psychopomp or "soul guide"—a conductor of souls into the afterlife. In myth, Hermes functions as the emissary and messenger of the gods, and is often presented as the son of Zeus and Maia, the Pleiad. He is regarded as "the divine trickster", about which the '' Homeric Hymn to Hermes'' offers the most well-known account. Hermes's attributes and symbols include the herma, the rooster, the tortoise, satchel or pouch, talaria (winged sandals), and winged helmet or simple petasos, as well as the palm tree, goat, the number four, several kinds of fish, and incense. However, his main symbol is the ''caduceus'', a wi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hermaphroditus
In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus (; , ) was a child of Aphrodite and Hermes. According to Ovid, he was born a remarkably beautiful boy whom the naiad Salmacis attempted to rape and prayed to be united with forever. A god, in answer to her prayer, merged their two forms into one and transformed him into a hermaphrodite. His name is compounded of his parents' names, Hermes and Aphrodite. Because Hermaphroditus was a child of Hermes, and consequently a great-grandchild of Atlas (Hermes's mother Maia was the daughter of Atlas), he is sometimes called Atlantiades (). Symbolism Hermaphroditus, the two-sexed child of Aphrodite and Hermes (Venus and Mercury), had long been a symbol of androgyny or effeminacy, and was portrayed in Greco-Roman art as a female figure with male genitals. Theophrastus's account also suggests a link between Hermaphroditus and the institution of marriage. The reference to the fourth day of the month is telling (see Literature section below): this is the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Intersex Society Of North America
The Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) was a non-profit advocacy group founded in 1993 by Cheryl Chase (activist), Cheryl Chase to end shame, secrecy, and unnecessary genital surgeries on intersex people.Matthews, Karen (Oct 22, 2000). Debate Grows Over Using Surgery on Infants with Ambiguous Genitals. ''Los Angeles Times''Murrell, Nancy (October 28, 1998). Intersex group raises questions about genital surgery. ''Miami Herald''Hackford-Peer, Kim (2005). Cheryl Chase Founds the Intersex Society of North America. in ''GLBT History, 1993–2004''; 2005, p28-30, 2p Other notable members included Morgan Holmes, Max Beck, Tiger Devore, Howard (Tiger) Devore, Esther Morris Leidolf and Alice Dreger. The organization closed in June 2008,Staff report (June 28, 2008)Farewell message. via ISNA.org and has been succeeded by a number of health, civil and human rights organizations including interACT. Advocacy Physical integrity and bodily autonomy ISNA stated that newborn intersex genit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ovotesticular Syndrome
Ovotesticular syndrome (also known as ovotesticular disorder or OT-DSD) is a rare congenital condition where an individual is born with both ovarian and testicular tissue. It is one of the rarest disorders of sex development (DSDs), with only 500 reported cases. Commonly, one or both gonads is an ovotestis containing both types of tissue. Although it is similar in some ways to mixed gonadal dysgenesis, the conditions can be distinguished histologically. Terminology In the past, ovotesticular syndrome was referred to as true hermaphroditism, which is considered outdated as of 2006. The term "true hermaphroditism" was considered very misleading by many medical organizations and by many advocacy groups, as hermaphroditism refers to a species that produces both sperm and ova, something that is impossible in humans. Symptoms Physical * Enlargement of one or both breasts in men (gynecomastia) (present in 75% of cases) * Small phallus midway in size between a clitoris and a pe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gynomonoecious
Gynomonoecy is defined as the presence of both female and hermaphrodite flowers on the same individual of a plant species. It is prevalent in Asteraceae but is poorly understood. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with monoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Occurrence This sexual system occurs in about 2.8% of flowering plants. It is present in 3% of ''Silene'' species and 23 families of flowering plants, but is most common in the daisy family, Asteraceae. Of the approximately 23000 species in the Asteraceae about 200 are gynomonoecious. Evolution Gynomonoecy may be an intermediate evolutionary state between monoecy and hermaphroditism. It is also postulated to be the ancestor to trimonoecy. Gynomonecy evolved once in Hawaiian ''Tetramolopium''. In families like Compositae or Chenopodiaceae Amaranthaceae ( ) is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type (biology), type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andromonoecious
Andromonoecy is a breeding system of plant species in which male and hermaphrodite flowers are on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with monoecy, gynomonoecy and trimonoecy. Andromonoecy is frequent among genera with zygomorphic flowers, however it is overall rare and occurs in less than 2% of plant species. Nonetheless the breeding system has gained interest among biologists in the study of sex expression. Etymology The word andromonoecious is a combination of andr- (meaning male) and monoecious and was first used in 1877. Prevalence Andromonoecy is uncommon and has been estimated to occur in less than 2% of plant species. In angiosperms, it occurs in 1.7% of angiosperms making up around 4000 species in 33 families. It is common in the grass subfamily Panicoideae. Andromonoecious species * ''Cucumis melo'' subsp * ''Cucumis melo'' * '' Chaerophyllum bulbosum'' * '' Erophaca baetica'' * '' Silene tibetica'' ''Solanum'' * '' Solanum agnewioru ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Trioecy
Trioecy , also spelled triecy, is a sexual system characterized by the coexistence of males, females, and hermaphrodites. It has been found in both plants and animals. Like androdioecy and gynodioecy, trioecy is a mixed mating systems. Terminology Trioecy is also called tridioecy and subdioecy . The term trioecy comes from the Neo-Latin word '' Trioecia'', a former order of trioecious plants. Evolution of trioecy Trioecy may be an unstable transient state associated with evolutionary transitioning from gynodioecy to dioecy. In brachiopod species, trioecy usually breaks into androdioecy or gynodioecy. Other studies show that trioecious populations originated from gonochoristic ancestors which were invaded by a mutant selfing hermaphrodite, creating a trioecious population. It has been suggested that chromosomal duplication plays an important part in the evolution of trioecy. But one study found that trioecy can be stable under nucleocytoplasmic sex determination. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gynodioecy
Gynodioecy is a rare breeding system that is found in certain flowering plant species in which female and hermaphroditic plants coexist within a population. Gynodioecy is the evolutionary intermediate between hermaphroditism (exhibiting both female and male parts) and dioecy (having two distinct morphs: male and female). Gynodioecy is sometimes considered a mixed mating system comparable with trioecy and androdioecy. It is also considered a dimorphic sexual system alongside dioecy and androdioecy. Gynodioecy occurs as a result of transmission of nuclear (nuclear male sterility) or, more commonly, extra-nuclear (e.g. cytoplasmic male sterility) mutated alleles, which prevents pollen production, while keeping the female reproductive parts intact; other members of the species population don't inherit the mutated alleles, thus remaining hermaphrodites. In some cases, a combination of both nuclear and extra-nuclear mechanisms is observed in determining the sterile phenotype ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |