There are all kinds of beings living on our planet: big, small, thin, wide, colorful, or colorless. The biodiversity is so great that the characteristics vary much more than human beings think. For example, most beings are classified as male or female, but in nature, there are also gynandromorphic animals, this is creatures that have both biological sexes.
These organisms have both male and female parts. Among the many species that have this peculiarity are crustaceans, lobsters, spiders, some species of birds, and butterflies, among others.
The defining feature of gynandromorphic animals is that they have a female and a male side. The tissue is alternately distributed between the two sexes, resulting in bilateral gynandromorphism at a very early stage of development.
How do gynandromorphic animals evolve?
This whole process occurs thanks to a mitosis event during the early development of the species. When cells divide in an organism, there is one particular cell (which is random) that fails to divide the sex chromosomes.
This implies that at the end of their development, two cells have sex chromosomes; one of them develops the female side and the other the male side. For example, if an XY cell undergoes the mitosis process it will double its chromosomes becoming XXYYY.
By the time this last duplicated cell is fully split, two XY cells will remain. The result will be a genderless animal. This has been quite a discovery for science. Researchers have undergone different genetic analyses of development and behavior to understand what effects it has on these animals and their reproduction processes.
This could be considered an abnormal phenomenon, but the reality is that nature has been doing it for centuries. Although this strange genetic condition is somehow complex for humans, in animals it is natural and not accidental at all.
We do not know exactly what is its purpose or if it is just a random mutation. However, the animal balance works, so we should learn from how gynandromorphic animals enjoy a bilateral body without major problems.
Text courtesy of Ecoosfera
Photos: Pexels: Joseph M. Lacy / 김 대정
Translated by María Isabel Carrasco Cara Chards
