Saturday, March 10, 2007

Important Biology Question

Dear readers,
It's not every day that I get to test my biology know-how (beyond, of course, the inner workings of le sex organs) but the other day I received, via text message, the following question:

Heya-
Oysters begin their lives as males and end their lives as females, what would you call this sexual deviance?
Love,
Devoted reader

Dear DR,
Well, in my field, we call these people M-to-F trannies, but it's been a long time since I took that marine biology course in college. The term "protandric" which means "has male sex organs while young and later in life has female sex organs." It's the combination of two words, "Proto," meaning "early" and "andric," meaning "male." Betcha didn't know I also dabble in etymology.
Love,
GTG

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