Hermaphrodites

[Pangloss62]

I'm lucky to have a pretty funny and intelligent father. He contributes a "Fascinating Factoid" to my blog about once a month. He's retired and has muscular neuropathy, so it gives him something to do. Recently, "TheFaz" and I have been discussing the absurdity of creationism and those who insist marriage MUST be between a man and a women. To this argument we always said "But what about hermaphrodites? Who are they supposed to marry?" I doubt many Fundies even think about that, but if they did, I would forward my father's most recent "Factoid" below. I thought some of you Cellarites would enjoy it:

Dr. Kinbote’s Fascinating Factoids !

#13-Hermaphrodites

Note: Not for the faint hearted or delicate!

Hermaphroditism, the ability of an organism to have both fully functioning male & female reproductive organs, occurs in about 15% of animal species. There are three kinds:

(1)...simultaneous

(2)...age sequential

(3) opportunistic

The first form seems to be confined to invertabrates, such as snails & flatworms. The other forms seem to occur in fishes-Type 2 is seen in Clownfish, type 3 in Wrasse (the death of a male “harem” leader prompts one of the normally female fish to develop into a male)

Behavior in type 1 is truly bizarre:

Certain worms use their penises (they have two) in duels. Each tries to spray the other with as much sperm as possible. They have a body opening, but this does not lead to the ovaries. Instead, the ejaculate is immersed in a tissue -destroying fluid. Once the sperm penetrate (this can be anywhere) , they find their way to the eggs (exactly how they accomplish this is not known). Moreover, in some species, internal plumbing diverts a considerable part of the sperm to the digestive tract, Presumably for nutritive use.

How’s that for multi-tasking!

Another specie of worm uses its penis (ouch!) to puncture the skin of its “partner”. The injected sperm find their way (somehow) to the eggs. Some slugs will bite off the penis of the other. (The bananna

slug, mascot of the U.C. Santa Cruz atheletic teams does this.

There are at least 5 species of snails that shoot darts (a very sharp spike, made of a calcium compound, about 9 millimeters long ) into their “mate”. This spike is covered with a gel that enhances fertilization. Another species of snail uses this spike as a dagger, often slashing its “mate” over a thousand times in one encounter.

So far, there is no known specie of simultaneous hermaphrodite that mates with itself . The behavior seems to imply a strong urge to play the male role. Is male chauvinism then a natural thing, & not a cultural one? Who knows!

One thing is certain-all this should really give pause to the “intelligent design”crowd.