Why are most species not intersex?

351 views

Wouldn’t it allow for greater genetic proliferation if every member of a race could mate with each other?

In: 0

8 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

There’s a tradeoff here. Having and maintaining two sets of genitals and reproductive components takes energy. This energy has to come from somewhere, reducing physical abilities.

When population densities are relatively high, it’s pretty easy to find a partner. This means that the physical benefits of being a single sex outweigh the benefits of being both sexes.

If a species *were* intersex, any mutation that resulted in a single-sex individual would be beneficial to that individual. After all, they can still have sex with any other individual without any of the tradeoffs. This sort of selection pressure is what pushes organisms towards single-sex instead of being both sexes.

You are viewing 1 out of 8 answers, click here to view all answers.