Hermaphroditic Animals and Hybridity
The idea of hybrid animals, and the Animal World's look at Chimeras is something that I found very interesting and wanted to examine closer. This led me to Hermaphroditic animals, the idea that an animal can change its sex and gender is very intriguing especially when there are some animals that can mate with themselves as a result. This hybridity of 'gender' or at the very least sexual organs amongst animals is more common than you could expect.
For example Clown Fish
Nhobgood/Wikimedia Commons
Similarly but different the female Wrasse fish are known to swap genders when the dominant male dies or is killed; which takes approximately two weeks.
Leonardlow/Flickr
The Banana Slug is known for having both female and male genitalia at the same time.
Andy.goryachev/Wikimedia Commons
Unlike Clown Fish and Wrasse fish the Banana Slug has, on rare occasion, been known to impregnate itself, meaning it has mated with itself.
This idea of hybridity through gender conveys the ways in which animals have evolved to keep their species alive and thriving in their own environments.
Kelly, E, (2016), '10 Sex-Changing Animals That Don't Conform To Gender Roles', All Thats Interesting, 16 July 2016. Available at:
https://allthatsinteresting.com/sequential-hermaphrodotism-sex-changing-animals (Accessed 11 October 2018).
