Comments on: The Genetic Gamesmanship of a Seven-Sexed Creature

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:01:31 +0000

They would actually be septasexual. “Sexta-” has a t in it and means “six”.

@ Caleb Johnsen, “It’s now so obvious.”
Like putting too much air in a balloon! /Futurama

By: Caleb Johnsen

Caleb Johnsen — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:54:13 +0000

Actually, if more stable reproduction of cell genetic material becomes more refined by the existence of multiple quasi-gender groups that don’t reproduce themselves perfectly then these roles become more stable overtime as the number of each gender type and their specialization to these roles becomes more and more refined, it could explain not only the arising of two partner sexual reproduction, with stable minor variations being introduced from one generation to another, but also asexual reproduction based off of the perfect or near-perfect reproduction of a cell type from generation to generation.
That would then imply that the reproduction of cells did not start out start out asexually at all, but based of an incomprehensible number of quasi-gendered groups constantly exchange genetic information and maybe even basic cellular structures in order to better survive and more success fully reproduce themselves.
Then it would just require a large number of imperfect and unstable biological agents to give rise to stable and semi-stable varieties, individual imperfect mechanisms that give rise to more perfect mechanisms for not merely reproductive success but more stable forms as would be a natural consequence in any natural system, to explain everything.
It’s now so obvious.

By: Caleb Johnsen

Caleb Johnsen — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 03:02:11 +0000

This is very interesting. What if it turns out that the reason that the ratios of the seven sexes in this species is being skewed because of a process of elimination acting on each of these varieties that takes place among all early species when they first develop any form of sexual reproduction to begin with, thereby lead to the natural selection of the most efficient means of maximizing genetic diversity in a stable community as the probability ratios shifted in favor of specific subsets of the same species.
Then, as this plethora of stable and readily induced genetically diverse populations come into play the subsets adapt to their more rigged gender roles and become a completely new species. This could have huge ramifications for the concept of how early sexually reproductive species developed in the first place.
If gene swapping was constantly taking place, if early protocells were constantly intermixed from complex biological communities into refined cellular machines, and if gender ratios were constantly tipping due to selective processes as I mentioned earlier in tandem with all of these, it would explain every thing perfectly. Someone, publish a paper on this possibility now.
Oh and mention me in it too, ‘kay? Thanks, I look forward to an advanced copy. Laters.
Signed calebjohnsn@gmail.com, Apollo High school senior
Bye. (^_^)

By: Alan Gunhouse

Alan Gunhouse — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:11:08 +0000

So this is a real creature?

By: Matt`

Matt` — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:38:05 +0000

For biological purposes, I think I’m right in saying that the type of gametes you produce define your sex. Still doesn’t produce a perfect binary, and there are always edge cases in any such definition, but it’s still fair to say that a very sizeable percentage of the human species can be categorised two different ways on that basis.

Gender is then a psychological construction about what you identify as, combining biological sex, social influence and personal feeling, which may (in the majority case) be tightly connected with your biological sex, but evidently isn’t constrained by that.

By: Auto

Auto — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 05:12:32 +0000

At the risk of sounding homophobic –

“Gay” is not a sex. It’s a preference.

If an entire species were gay, it wouldn’t exist in the first place.

By: JK

JK — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:20:15 +0000

Adam, that’s not entirely accurate. Somatic mosaicism, while rare, nevertheless is the exception to the rule that demonstrates that we have an incomplete vocabulary for describing and defining “sexes,” even with respect to the capacity for pairs to reproduce.

By: Amos Zeeberg (Discover Web Editor)

Amos Zeeberg (Discover Web Editor) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:25:50 +0000

Good work on the comments, folks. “Sexasexual” — nice.

@Idlewilde, what are the specific properties of the different sexes?

By: aztec

aztec — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 21:34:18 +0000

7 different types of gays would make religious lose their minds, if they didn’t already.

By: Adam

Adam — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 04:43:44 +0000

Jenn, you’re missing the issue here. The research isn’t focusing on sexual orientation – it’s dealing with reproductive potential.

As far as the ability to naturally reproduce is concerned, there are “only two” sexes in human beings.

Not saying that any of the other “sexes” you listed are necessarily wrong, but it’s beyond the scope of the study.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 04:04:47 +0000

The idea that there are only two sexes in human beings (ie the existence of the gender binary) is fast getting out of date. Gender is as much a continuous phenotype as any other – and to think otherwise would be denying the existence of genderqueer, bigender and trans people.

By: Fruma Klass

Fruma Klass — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 23:43:41 +0000

See “Venus and the Seven Sexes” by Willim Tenn, available in the book Immodest Proposals, published by NESFA Press, 2001. There were actually only six xexes that transmitted the gamete; the seventh was a coordinator. This story, first published in 1949, drew a fan letter from Hans Bethe (later Nobel Prixe winner) in which he diagrammed the probable gamete charts.

By: Idlewilde

Idlewilde — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 23:35:03 +0000

I wish it talked more about the specific properties of the different sexes. That’s what’s most interesting to me.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:35:25 +0000

And no reference to William Tenn’s 1947 story “Venus and the Seven Sexes” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_and_the_Seven_Sexes http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/roboman/www/sigma/review/7sexes.html ?

By: Old Rockin' Dave

Old Rockin' Dave — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:27:55 +0000

“I’m a Kinsey 6 VI-sexual.”
“This ad is demeaning to IIIs”
“The IV-ine Mystique”
“MWII looking for a fourteen-some”
“You don’t have a chance. That I is strictly I-sexual.”

The possibilities are endless.

By: Robert S-R

Robert S-R — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:41:25 +0000

Would that make these creatures… sexasexual?

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:20:53 +0000

That would make for an interesting bar scene.