Intersex (biology)

This article is about intersex across species from a biological perspective. For humans specifically, see Intersex.
Not to be confused with Hermaphrodite.

Intersex is a general term for an organism that has sex characteristics that are between male and female.[1] It typically applies to a minority of members of gonochoric animal species such as mammals (as opposed to hermaphroditic species in which the majority of members can have both male and female sex characteristics).[2] Such organisms are usually sterile.[3]

Intersexuality can occur due to both genetic and environmental factors[4] and has been reported in mammals, fishes, nematodes, and crustaceans.

  1. ^ "intersex | Definition & Facts". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-07-10. Intersex, in biology, an organism having physical characteristics intermediate between a true male and a true female of its species.
  2. ^ Farrell A (2011-06-01). Encyclopedia of Fish Physiology: From Genome to Environment. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-08-092323-9. Thus, strictly speaking, all hermaphrodites are intersex at one time point, but not all intersexes are hermaphrodites. This definition is usually applied to gonochoristic species to describe those individuals that are not normal for the species.
  3. ^ "Malformation – Sexual anomalies". Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference crust was invoked but never defined (see the help page).