All about sex.

[swestrup]

From the "I didn't know that about the platypus" department we have this paragraph I came across while looking up Sex on Wikipedia:

In mammals, birds, and many other species, sex is determined by the sex chromosomes, called X and Y in mammals, and Z and W in birds. For mammals, males typically have one of each (XY), while females typically have two X chromosomes (XX). All individuals have at least one X chromosome, the Y chromosome is generally shorter than the X chromosome with which it is paired, and is absent in some species, this pattern admitting some considerable variation. One interesting variation is in the platypus, a rather unusual mammal in many other ways, where sex is determined by 10 chromosomes. Males are XYXYXYXYXY and females XXXXXXXXXX. In birds, males have two of the same kind of sex chromosome (ZZ) and females have one of each type (ZW). In other species, including crocodiles, and most insects, sex may be determined by various other sex-determination systems, including those controlled by environmental factors such as temperature. Yet other species change sex during their lifetime.

If Earth life can be this complex, you would expect alien life to be far stranger. So why do folks keep thinking that Aliens would be able to mate with us? As Carl Sagan once pointed out, you would have better chances of having sex with a petunia. At least its from the same planet.

Comments

[xipetotec.livejournal.com]

Why? Cause Gene Roddenberry said so! :P

I wonder what it would be like to have sex with a gaseous cloud entity...

[lasher.livejournal.com]

wow, i did not know that some species actually change sex during their lifetime.

p.s. i am a huge fan of the platypus. they rock. in fact, i named my hobby business after them - Purple Platypus Creations(TM).