sex reversal

views updated May 17 2018

sex reversal Change in functioning such that a member of one sex behaves as a member of the other. Some organisms (e.g. certain molluscs) make this change as part of their normal life cycle, with most individuals functioning as males when young and then passing through a transitional stage to a period when they function as females. Sex reversal may otherwise be experimentally induced (e.g. by hormone transplants in humans) or environmentally induced (e.g. by temperature effects on the production of male or female zygotes in some turtles).

sex reversal

views updated May 11 2018

sex reversal A change in functioning such that a member of one sex behaves as a member of the other. Some organisms (e.g. certain molluscs) make this change as part of their normal life cycle, with most individuals functioning as males when young and then passing through a transitional stage to a period when they function as females. Sex reversal may otherwise be experimentally induced (e.g. by hormone transplants in humans) or environmentally induced (e.g. by temperature effects on the production of male or female zygotes in some turtles).